Children of the Grave
by thebigmacattack
Summary: RWBY/Marvel. Captain Ruby Rose is 2 years removed from being encased in Arctic ice. She is still struggling to adjust to modern life, Yang's death in WWII, & the prevalence of Dust. After an assassination attempt threatens to throw Beacon into chaos, Ruby discovers that sometimes the enemy lies within... & her greatest foe may have been by her side since her awakening.
1. Wrong Time, Right Place

Somehow, this happened. Somehow, a Skype chat went in this direction. Somehow, it became all about crossing RWBY over the MCU. The end result . . . is this. I have no idea if that's good or bad or not.

But . . . anyway, this is RWBY crossed with The Winter Soldier (with elements of Iron Man 3, The Avengers, and Captain America The First Avenger). Quite experimental and strange so far. I hope people like it.

* * *

**Chapter One: Wrong Time, Right Place**

_November 1st, 1942, Tunis (Vichy France)_

_Seven days before Operation Torch_

Sergeant Hans Raeder was angry.

He wanted to fight and he wasn't getting it out here in Tunis.

He wasn't deployed in the El Alamein area where his fellow German comrades in the _Afrika Corps_ were fighting for their lives against a determined Allied offensive.

He wasn't off in Stalingrad where his countrymen were locked in a life or death struggle against the hated Soviet _Untermensch. _

No, he was _here_, making sure the lazy-ass Italians weren't causing too much trouble and that the Allies weren't infiltrating the area. Two impossible tasks he couldn't do much about.

He knew full well the Allies were around here. Pretending to be French, pretending to be Italian, pretending to be German, pretending to be locals from the area. Pretending, pretending, _pretending_. And there weren't much he could do about it, even though his superiors were convinced he could.

There were rumors that the Allies were preparing an invasion of North Africa. Maybe then things would be exciting for Hans. The Americans were locked in a struggle with the Japanese on the other side of the world. The people the Americans were sending were raw recruits, unused to combat. They would die easily.

Hans almost welcomed the possibility.

Until then, though . . .

Hans looked over at a shop to his right. A few men of a group he was growing annoyed with, rearguard troops with nothing better to do, were harassing a storeowner. Looked like it was gonna get ugly.

He marched over then, his hands gripping his MP-40 submachine-gun just a little tighter.

"What the hell's going on here?" he asked no one in particular.

"This man's been collaborating with the Allies!" one of the privates exclaimed.

Hans eyed the man. He didn't look like he was associated with the Allies. The type of fear in the man's eyes was different from the fear he had seen from Allied saboteurs and agents.

"Is he, or is he not giving you what you want for free?" Hans asked.

The small squad looked down as a collective.

Hans sighed. Of course there was nothing truly going on here. Still, he had to do a formality.

"Empty your pockets and set what you have on the counter. Prove to them you have nothing to hide. I assure you that you won't get shot," Hans said. The storeowner was still going to lose_something_ over this, this was going to turn into a small robbery, but at least he was still going to keep his store and his head.

Hans looked around. The storeowner only had one customer, a girl. Looked European, by the looks of her, dark hair and silver eyes. She was completely ignoring the commotion at the front, seeming to be reading a newspaper in front of the canned goods section.

Now _she_ had something off about her. No ordinary civilian would be _this_ complacent when there were German troops in the front of the store harassing the storeowner.

Also, who had eyes like this girl? Those weren't natural.

He had heard whispers of the Allies messing around with a newly discovered substance. Since they were whispers originating from the SS, he wasn't sure whether he wanted to believe them or not. This substance could mess with humans' eyes and hair colors, and make animals . . . _more_ than simple animals.

Her appearance, in short, was most suspicious.

Hans stopped next to her, and she continued to pay him no mind. "_Fraulein_."

She ignored him, continuing to be lost in the newspaper.

"_Fraulein_."

Then she noticed him. She turned to her right, over to him. Her silver eyes were clear as day to him, and she looked young. Like a kid. Couldn't be older than fourteen, fifteen at best.

What was she?

"Oh! _Hallo, Herr!_ _Was ist los_?" She spoke German well enough, but there was a foreign accent. Hans couldn't place it. He didn't like it.

"I need you to head over to the counter and empty your pockets."

"What?" the girl asked, her face confused, but showing no signs of nervousness.

"Head over to the counter and empty your pockets, _fraulein_. I won't ask you again."

The girl raised an eyebrow. Her total lack of fear was startling. As were the next words she spoke.

"Are you . . . _robbing_ me?"

Hans would have said '_No_', but he was never presented with the opportunity to say so. Or say anything at all.

After all, the next thing he knew was that he was flying through the air, end over end, before crashing through a window and landing outside.

Hans wasn't even able to register that he had finally seen some action before unconsciousness took him.

Not that he would have wanted to register it, anyway.

* * *

Ruby Rose hated trying to blend in with people. It never worked out. She had known it from the moment the man had gazed into her eyes. Silver eyes just didn't happen.

Of course, after handing the sergeant's ass to him, there were a small squad of soldiers she needed to wipe out as well. Good for her, then, that she had brought in a special weapon to the party, a weapon that had already impressed her with the way it had helped send the German army sergeant flying through the window like a cannon had shot him out.

She unleashed the Crescent Rose.

She moved between them like an acrobat, kicking, punching, and whacking people with the Crescent Rose. In its current form, it was a gigantic, powerful scythe, and Ruby had no issue using the weapon exactly as it was designed to do.

She was not an ordinary girl. She hadn't been an ordinary girl since 1938. She hadn't been an ordinary girl since the Japanese had attacked China, if she wanted to get technical.

Dust was going to change the whole world, and the Axis Powers had no idea it was coming. Ruby wouldn't have it any other way.

After the commotion came to an unceremonious end, all that was left was the storeowner and Ruby. Ruby eyed the man, who had his back against the wall, quivering in fear.

Ruby smiled and waved. "Hi! Sorry about the mess!"

The storeowner's eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted.

Ruby sighed. She yanked out some of the francs that her officer had given her before she had been sent out here and set them down on the counter. Hopefully the storeowner would come to his senses before the Nazis did.

She thought about hiding the Crescent Rose and trying to stroll out like nothing happened, but before she could do so, she saw a trio of German patrolman rushing towards the store, guns out.

_Oh, this is swell._

Attempting to hide and blend back in was no longer a possibility.

The Germans opened fire. Utilizing her left hand, Ruby spun the Crescent Rose while walking backwards.

Dust had changed her. Her eyes, her body, they could do things that the supposed _Ubermensch _couldn't come close to doing.

She was only fifteen, but she was strong. And she knew what she had to do.

All the years in China, watching the Chinese and Japanese kill each other, had taught her war.

The moment they stopped firing in order to reload, or stare at her in shock, Ruby bent down by one of the privates she had knocked out and ripped his Luger pistol out of his holster. She opened fire with it, aiming right at the chests and heads of the patrolmen. They all dropped, though she emptied the pistol in the process.

She ran then, out the back, charging through the small freezer in the process.

_I wasn't supposed to go into action yet! Yang's gonna kill me_!

She hid the Crescent Rose, transforming it back into a innocent-looking baton, and ran through the alleys. Already, she could hear people all around her, shouting in German, not yet aware she had been the attacker.

_If the Nazis don't kill me first._

She frowned while she ran. The thought was automatic, try as she did to not think it.

_God, I hate Nazis_.

* * *

Of course, by getting into a fight, Ruby had risked blowing the mission, which wasn't due to happen until tomorrow. When Ruby snuck into the safe house, she found herself approached by an exceptionally angry Yang Xiao Long.

How did Ruby know Yang was '_exceptionally_ angry' and not just 'angry'? Her eyes were red. As red as blood.

"What were you thinking, Ruby?"

Ruby wasn't sure whether to be apologetic or terrified. Yang looked furious enough to kill her right now. "I-I didn't know what to do! He told me to empty my pockets!"

Yang buried her face in her palm. "This is why I keep telling you not to go outside unless it's absolutely necessary!"

When Yang's palm left her face, and she re-opened her eyes, they were their normal violet shade. Ruby calmed down then. She felt a lot of the pressure leaving the room with Yang's eyes back to normal.

Yang's eyes, much like Ruby's, had been permanently changed back in 1939. They had always been violet, but her long, golden hair, and that her eyes turned red when she was angry, _those_ were results of Dust. Yang was also Ruby's older sister (technically _half_-sister, their mother was different), and, as far as Ruby knew, the only other surviving member of her family. Unless their father was still alive wherever he was in China, anyway.

Yang's eyes seemed to shimmer as she looked at Ruby. "I know you have the right intentions, and I know you only fought because you felt you had to. But . . . if the enemy has any idea who you are . . ."

Yang did not need to finish the sentence for Ruby to understand. "Not only could I have blown the mission, but the enemy would know who we are. And possibly about Dust."

Yang's hands clenched into fists, and Yang's voice seemed to break, just a little. "And then we could get killed, and Dust won't be top secret anymore. I'm not letting you die in this war, Ruby, or have more people be killed because the enemy finds out about Dust. I just can't."

Ruby knew the lengths Yang would go to protect her. The discovery of Dust, the first attempt to experiment on the mysterious substance, it had ended in disaster. Ruby would never shake off the sight of her mother, Summer, disintegrating, nor the other scientists who were exposed to Dust and died the same way.

And she would always remember, as the Dust crept in closer, Yang grabbing Ruby, tackling her to the floor. Yang had tried desperately to tuck Ruby's arms underneath, trying to cover Ruby up with her own body. Futile as it was, it was the only thing that could be done to try, somehow, to save Ruby.

It didn't work. Dust infected Yang, and it infected Ruby too.

But they survived. Not only survived, but became _stronger_.

They were the only true supersoldiers in the world, and as American citizens, it was only a matter of time before the US military came calling. When the USA entered the war, they immediately got ahold of Yang and Ruby and put them through a private boot camp in the States. Now, in addition to Yang's Ember Celica and Ruby's Crescent Rose, they had formal hand-to-hand and firearms training . . . plus each got a promotion to captain so Allied soldiers would be forced to take them seriously.

Though, sadly, the look of Allied soldiers upon seeing Yang and Ruby tended to be sadness and dismay more than disrespect.

After all, they were still only kids.

"I don't think any of the survivors knew what hit them," Ruby finally said. "As long as I stay inside we'll be okay, I think. I wasn't followed."

She would have known if she was.

"You're sure," Yang said. It wasn't a question.

"Yes. One-hundred percent."

Yang managed to smile. "All right, if you say so. I'll trust you for this one."

Looking at Yang smile filled with Ruby with an impossible confidence. She felt invincible when she was with Wang. Like nothing would hurt them, or break them apart.

Perhaps most importantly, Ruby felt _safe_.

She chuckled and grinned widely. "I won't let you down, Yang!"

Yang's smile was warm, almost maternal. "I know you won't, Ruby."

* * *

_Washington D.C., United States_

_Present Day_

Ruby woke with blurry vision, a warm face, and a choked-up throat.

Tears leaked from her eyes as another memory of her big sister slid across her mind's eye like a slideshow.

"I'm sorry," she whispered at she stared at the ceiling.

She turned to her left, seeing the only surviving picture of her and her family, taken in the spring of 1937, right before the Japanese had attacked China.

Seeing her, Yang, their father Taiyang Xiaolong, and the only person either of them knew as "mother", Summer Rose. They had just traveled to China, not knowing that the discovery of the century was about to be made, or the true terror of war.

All of them, gone. Even if their father had survived the war, he would've been long dead by now.

No family. No one even to contact. Only one person she knew from the war still lived, and he was in an assisted living home, suffering from Alzheimer's, fading away by the day.

All of the battles. North Africa. Sicily. Italy. Burma. France. Belgium. Germany. Finally Norway, which had the most tragic battle of all.

What was it all for?

Ruby would give back all of the medals, all of her misleading youth, even her Crescent Rose, just for her family to still live.

She reached and grabbed the picture, which was neatly tucked into a wooden frame. She brought it to her chest for a few minutes, in total repose, trying to find strength.

"I'm sorry," she whispered again softly. "I'm sorry. I let you down. I let you all down."

The sun shone through her window then. It was a golden, scintillating light, the kind of light she had adored as a small child.

It was as if Yang was out there, in heaven, like an angel, inviting Ruby to wake up and join the world one more time.

_Okay. Okay. You win, Yang. _

The light faded, and then came back, as if the sunlight had winked at her.

_Rub it in, why don't ya?_

Ruby put the picture back down on her desk, and then sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes and yawned.

Biologically, she was twenty. When she had been first exposed to Dust, the strength and the athleticism didn't really show. After all, she had been a kid. But as she grew older during the war, the strength, the speed, the endurance, the forced elite physical appearance, they had had begun to show themselves. And now that she was (biologically) twenty, it was all too clear what she was. She looked like she was some elite Olympic athlete, someone suited to triathlons . . . or perhaps that newfangled competition where people beat the hell out of each other senselessly in a cage. What was that again?

_Argh, who cares. It's just unhinged boxing. _

She looked over at the Crescent Rose, still strong, still unbreakable. Despite the war, despite being frozen in ice for a zillion decades like Ruby was, it still was like it was brand-new. The most resilient weapon ever made, by anyone.

She smiled.

After all, it was Ruby who built it herself.

She looked back outside then, staring out at the new day, with only a couple clouds in the sky to interrupt the inviting sunlight.

_Maybe I'll go for a run. That usually makes me feel better._

This early in the morning, the chances of being mugged for an impromptu autograph session (or some type of media frenzy) were fairly low too. The longer she waited, the less likely she would be able to run uninterrupted.

Yeah, the time was now.

She jumped from the bed, stretched, and walked over to her closet.

_There, you see, Yang, Mom, Dad? I'm not quitting yet. Stop worrying about me, okay?_

She opened the closet.

_I'm never gonna quit._


	2. Three Lefts Make a Right

There's some intentional riffage on the first few minutes of The Winter Soldier in this chapter. This pattern will not continue as the fic will soon launch in its own direction.

* * *

**Chapter Two: Three Lefts Make a Right**

_Washington D.C., United States  
Present Day_

The outdoors was usually relaxing for Jaune Arc early in the morning. The perfect time to take a jog, before the politicians and media were out in force, before the news of the world could begin to affect his day. He was a young man, at the age of twenty-two, but he felt older. He had been feeling older ever since his return to civilian life, and he wasn't quite sure what to do with his life, even after he finished college.

College he only could have afforded because he had done time in the military, at that.

He had a lot of dreams. Were any of them going to come to fruition? Did he have any future other than maybe going to a Washington Redskins or Nationals game once in a while? What was he going to do once he was done with college? How long before he could finally forget Afghanistan, or central Africa, or any of the other places he had been?

"On your left."

Jaune turned to his left and barely got out of the way in time to see a girl charge past him.

He watched as she quickly got ahead of him and soon became a distant figure on the horizon.

_What the heck was that?_

The sun had barely come up so he couldn't really make out the girl's features or outfit. But nobody ran that fast. She was effectively running at a full sprint. That wasn't a jog, that was more like Usain Bolt or something, with the way she had just charged past him.

And she was showing no signs of slowing down. She was already almost gone from his vision.

He forced himself to not get frustrated and just keep going. Strange things still happened early in the morning. Maybe he had randomly stumbled on an Olympian or something. Guess they had to train wherever they were. Maybe the President was going to meet with a bunch of the gold medalists from the Brazilian 2016 games. Yeah, that had to be it. The Games only ended a short time ago, and the President would want some of the higher profile Olympians to meet with him for photo ops, especially as he was about to leave office. Though he hadn't heard of the President meeting with any Olympians, gold medalists or otherwise . . .

_I guess a celebrity went by me. That was cool._

The sun continued to rise. Jaune couldn't help but smile. Here, away from the front, he almost felt safe. He almost could forget about the tension and gunfire and angry or despairing locals.

The question is whether he could forget.

His parents had opened the door for him down at the local Veterans' Affairs office, but he wasn't sure that was something he really wanted to do. Plus he didn't want to take out a handout from his parents. Yes, working there would be a good job, and it would help him financially, and he would be around a lot of people like him who had experienced things similar to what he had. But would that really help him forget? Would it really make him better?

"On your left!"

_Wait, what? Already?!_

Jaune could only watch as the exact same girl came flying past him yet again from the left. Now that the sun was higher, he could make out more of her. She was _strong_, the epitome of elite physical fitness, with highly toned, even muscular, arms and legs, and she was almost . . .

The back of her dark hair looked oddly familiar, plus for some reason there hints of red in that dark hair too . . .

_Wait. No way. No way. _

There was no way Ruby Rose had just run past him. Twice.

But what else made sense? How could the same girl pass him twice in about fifteen or so minutes? She was going . . . at least twenty miles per hour or so! Maybe even twenty-five at the pace she was setting! She was faster than the cyclists or even cars taking a stroll in a suburban neighborhood!

_That was her! That had to be her! _

He was wrong. This wasn't just another celebrity. This was someone who was _beyond_ celebrity. She was a war hero, among other things, and one of the most famous people in the entire world, much less the United States.

Why was she here now, today of all days? And why hadn't he seen her before if she lived around here?

_Maybe she takes a different route every day so people don't know when she's around_.

That would probably tell the story right then and there. That meant she wasn't likely to retake this route anytime soon, either.

_I gotta talk to her if she winds up crossing my path again. Hopefully that will be in just a few minutes-_

"On your left!"

_Oh come on!_

Jaune, as he rounded a corner, could only watch Ruby run by yet again, still setting her Olympian-esque pace.

He tried frantically to keep up with her, but could only manage a few paces before his lungs burned and he was done.

He wasn't going to finish _one_ lap, much less try to do plural.

_If this was a NASCAR race, I'd be the worst driver ever._

He walked off the park then, heading for a tree.

_I wish I could've made it to my water bottle at least._

* * *

Ten minutes later, Jaune was still trying to catch his breath and have his lungs not completely give out. Maybe he wasn't in of good of a shape as he thought.

Or maybe that effort to try to keep up with Captain Ruby Rose was all it took for his body to finally say '_Enough!_' and collapse.

He leaned against the tree, letting the sweat pour down his face, trying to not let it bother him.

_She's the one who breathed in that 'Dust' stuff. I gotta get my hands on that, possibly-turning-into-a-rage-monster-aside. _

The famous, or_infamous, _Pyrrha Nikos, also twenty-two, had caused her fair share of chaos until the last couple of years when she, somehow, had gotten control of herself. Now the Hulk was almost as hot as Pyrrha was, if not more so, and she could speak complete sentences with multi-syllable words. It was weird to think about. Pyrrha Nikos, talented athlete in her own right (though one with bad luck to be near a Dust experiment gone wrong), exceptionally attractive, and had enough will to reign in the monster inside her.

She was a gorgeous, resilient person. Someone Jaune would want to land but was far beyond his reach.

Just like . . .

"Need a medic?"

_No way_.

Jaune looked up and saw Ruby Rose in the flesh, standing over him.

There was no mistaking it, looking at her still-girlish face. That was her. The legendary World War II war hero, in the flesh.

"I . . . I, um . . ." He couldn't quite talk.

"Still out of breath?" she asked.

"I need a new set of lungs," he moaned, hanging his head.

Ruby laughed. "Don't feel bad! You were doing pretty well, I'm sorry for throwing you off!"

"No, I threw myself off." Suddenly, Jaune heard a shuffling from his left and saw Ruby sitting down next to him.

_She's . . . she's sitting down next to me. She's really sitting down next to me_!

Suddenly, Ruby took out a water bottle and handed it to him. Jaune could barely keep his hands from shaking as he took the water bottle from her hands. "T-Thank you."

"No problem. It's my spare."

"_You_ need a spare water bottle?" Jaune could barely keep from asking.

Ruby chuckled. "One thing I've learned is always bring a spare of _something_."

_Oh. Right. Smooth, Jaune._

"You look like you served. What division?" Ruby asked.

"Um . . . 1st Infantry. Served in Afghanistan, holding down a base. N-Now I . . . do college and I work part-time at the VA office."

He realized he hadn't given his name. "Um . . . I'm Jaune Arc."

"Ruby Rose."

"I-I figured you were."

She was a beautiful young woman. An innocent, angelic face, on a lithe body of power and speed. It was hard to look at her in the eye. No wonder she had captured the imaginations of so many when her exploits became public after the war.

He drank some of the water. "I did two tours, over in Afghanistan. I only got back a couple of months ago. Still trying to adjust to a normal bed."

"Afraid of sinking to the floor?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah."

"I get the same feeling still."

She sighed. "So much has changed. Food's a lot better, you wouldn't _believe_ how much we had to boil. No polio's good, and that _Pokemon_ game is so addicting. Pikachu's the cutest thing I've ever seen. And the Internet . . . once I figured out how to use it, it's been helpful too. I'm still trying to catch up, though."

Odd. She wasn't a war hero right now. She was . . . almost an ordinary girl. She _was_ just twenty, biologically, wasn't she? At least that's what Wikipedia claimed.

Maybe she just wanted another person, a soldier like her, to talk to.

"Do you ever pay a visit to the VA?" Jaune asked.

"No. I figured I would cause too much of a distraction."

_Oh. Right. She's famous. _"Sorry, I forgot."

"Don't be, you're fine, Jaune!" she laughed.

He looked at her. Hard to believe she had seen, and been through so much.

"Is it all true? All of the places you were in the war?"

"Yep."

"Even Burma?"

Ruby sighed. "_Especially_ Burma. They pulled Yang and I out from the European front, got the bright idea to have us help the Chindits cause havoc among the Japanese. We didn't stay there long, once malaria started spreading the brass had Yang and I yanked out of there and sent back to Europe. But there . . ."

Her silver eyes, a symptom of her exposure to Dust, looked away from him, and seemed lost, wistful. "I think Yang and I did the most good in Burma, especially during the siege of Imphal."

Jaune could barely remember reading about their exploits in Burma. "Didn't you save some colonel's life?"

"Colonel Orde Wingate. He has disobeyed orders and tried to fly during a bad rainstorm. Yang got a bad feeling and got her and me onboard the flight. Sure enough the plane lost sight and began to crash. We had parachutes ready, she grabbed the colonel and I grabbed a couple of other staffers, and Yang blew a hole in the side of the plane and we jumped out just before the crash."

There was something different about her now. It was like she was remembering the events as if they had just happened. He could see it in her body language, hear it in her voice, see it in her eyes and mouth.

"Wingate . . . wound up having the Chindits change directions and cut off the Japanese facing Imphal. We did that, and . . . the Japanese military attacking Imphal was eventually destroyed. Yang and I didn't stick around to see that happen because of the malaria concern, but I like to think that part of the reason why the Japanese were beaten back in Southeast Asia for the rest of the war was because we saved Colonel Wingate's life."

"How were you able to just keep fighting like that?" Jaune finally asked. He wasn't sure how to feel about hearing Ruby's story, but he definitely wanted to get to know her better now. And not because of her looks, either.

"Yang and I were the only ones of our kind. Where they needed us, that's where we went. And I knew we were needed. It was a war we needed to fight, a war we needed to win. Yang and I couldn't afford to break."

She looked up at him. "You have battle fatigue?"

"Huh?" Jaune had no idea what that was supposed to mean.

"Um, I mean . . . post-traumatic stress disorder, I think the modern term is. I'm sorry for prying, but . . . I don't think you would've asked me that question, otherwise."

Now she had turned the tables back on him. Now she wanted to know about _him_.

And he wasn't sure he wanted to tell her.

"You've been through so much . . . and I couldn't take two tours in Afghanistan," he said softly.

He looked back at her to see a gentle, small smile on her face. "You're fine. And I know you're doing the right thing, being with your fellow soldiers, right now. Giving them support."

She looked away. "What I read about our veterans from Vietnam _pisses me off_. They came home to be spat on and jeered and be called 'baby-killers'. I'm happy none of that happened for the Afghanistan veterans or I'd want to knock some heads together."

The bitterness in her tone suggested that not all things about what had transpired since the end of World War II sat right with her. And Jaune had a feeling that if people had their heads knocked together by Ruby, they wouldn't get up for a while. If at all. For the first time, Ruby actually seemed a bit scary.

"They did make the Vietnam Veterans Memorial," Jaune offered.

"That's the silver lining. But they still deserved better right after they came home." Ruby sighed. "I'm sorry. This conversation has taken such a weird direction. We only just met."

"Yeah." Jaune had the sense that Ruby was about to leave. Something was begging him, deep in his chest, to not let her go just yet.

"Um . . . I got one thing . . . that maybe you might like, if you're still trying to catch up."

"Yeah, I still am," Ruby said; her humor and smile returning. "What is it?"

"Uh . . . _Jurassic Park_. My favorite movie of all time. Plus it has an amazing score by John Williams. Best music I've ever heard for a movie."

"Sure. I'll put both on the list." Ruby pulled out a pen and a small notepad and began writing in it. Jaune peered over and could just make out what she already had on her list.

_Gunsmoke (Television)_

_Berlin Wall (Up and Down)_

_Moon Landing_

_Bill Gates (Microsoft)_

_Sonic The Hedgehog (Sega Genesis games only?)_

_Janis Joplin (Singer)_

_Chinese Food_

_Deep-Dish Pizza_

_Star Trek__/Star Wars_

_The Wire (more television)_

_Stephen King (novelist)_

_Led Zeppelin I-IV (how many Led Zeppelins are there?)_

And underneath the last, she wrote _Jurassic Park, movie AND soundtrack_.

_She's actually going to watch Jurassic Park because I recommended it. Holy crap._

She smiled at him again, and in that moment, she seemed almost like a girl again. "Thank you! If I see you again I'll let you know what I thought of it, okay?"

"T-Thanks, er, I mean, you're welcome."

Ruby laughed, but then something beeped. Ruby yanked a phone out of her pocket and stared at it for a moment.

"I'm sorry, Jaune, but it looks like duty's gonna call. I can't exactly run everywhere, you know."

A car pulled up. A sports car, black, looked like a souped-up Ford Mustang.

"No you can't," Jaune said softly.

The passenger's side window rolled down and Jaune stared at a dark-haired young man with a green streak in his hair. "Hi. I'm here to pick up an old lady."

Ruby sighed and got up, brushing herself off. "I don't _look_ old, that's what counts."

Suddenly, an orange haired girl peeked out, clearly leaning over from the passenger seat. "Ooh, Ruby's with a guy! Did you spill any classified info to him, Ruby?"

Even with her back turned to him Jaune could tell Ruby was annoyed. "Why, Nora?"

"So I get to put the hammer down on him, why else?"

"No, Nora," the man said, rolling his eyes.

'Nora' put on a pouty face. "Aww. You're no fun, Lie."

"You make that part of my job description. Now sit back down."

"Phooey."

Juane could only stare.

_That has to be Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie! Two of the people who helped Ruby save New York right after she was unfrozen! Crap!_

Ruby got up and brushed herself off. "I'm sorry, Jaune, but if these two pulled up here, that means there's something I have to do. Most likely something Nora _would_ have to whack you on the head over. But I'll see you later sometime, all right?"

"Y-Yeah, sure," Jaune said.

She gave him a light, cheerful wave. "Thanks for the conversation! Bye!"

She got into the passenger seat and the car immediately drove away as she rolled the window up.

Jaune could only stare at the car as it faded into Washington D.C. traffic. _Three of them. Three of BEACON's best people, and I just met them. I can't believe it. _

Suddenly, he looked at his hand. And realized what he was still holding.

_Oh, crap! She left behind her water bottle! How am I going to give it back to-_

Suddenly, as he looked around, he saw a spot on the ground where Ruby had been sitting. A piece of paper, sitting gently in the grass, held down by a rock so it wouldn't blow away.

Jaune picked it up. An email address.

An actual email address.

_Ruby Rose's_ email address. Had to be.

Jaune wanted to faint.

_She wants to stay in touch with me. _The _Captain Ruby Rose, wants to stay in touch with _me_. Has to be a dream. Has to be a dream_.

Jaune immediately pinched himself. Hard.

"Ow! God!"

Nope, this was real.

And, judging by the way a couple of bystanders were eyeing him, this was probably going to go on somebody's Tumblr today.

Jaune hung his head. Such was life.

At least, for today . . . it was a blessed one.

As long as those bystanders didn't have cameras.


	3. Wings and Prayers

We're approaching the first action centerpiece of the story. I hope people like it. As for the flashbacks to WWII, they won't be in every chapter, but they'll be in the next four chapters including this one. There's a reason for that, I'm building towards something.

* * *

**Chapter Three: Wings and Prayers**

_Indian Ocean  
Present Day_

Ruby Rose sat down near the ramp. It wasn't her turn to jump yet, in fact, it wasn't coming for a while.

A lot of people complained about the C-130. Ruby kind of liked it. It was a far more spacious plane than the ones she had to fly in. She could find a corner somewhere and just read a book for a while if she needed space. Considering the size of her book, and considering how much longer they needed to be in the air before they reached her destination, that was a good thing indeed.

"What tome are you reading, mortal?"

Unless, of course, someone disturbed her privacy. Like Nora Valkyrie.

Ruby looked up. "_The Stand_. Stephen King."

Nora chuckled lightly. "_Another_ 'king'?"

"It's his last name."

"Oh, I know. I'm just doing what your mortals call 'screwing with you'. It is most amusing."

_Why am I not surprised?_

Nora was strange. She seemed to have her head up in the clouds all the time, always blithely smiling and acting like she didn't have a care in the world. And yet, sometimes, she would preach about 'worthiness' and the 'pride of mortals' or some such.

Nora fidgeted with her Mjolnir hammer a bit. Nora went by two aliases, 'Valkyrie', most of the time, but she _really_ loved being called 'Thor'. That was her official title in Asgard, apparently, due to being able to wield Mjolnir, but she would accept 'Valkyrie'.

This was good, because Nora did _not_ look like a 'Thor' to Ruby. She didn't look like a 'Valkyrie' either, but at least she fit _that_ description better than 'Thor'.

"What is this _The Stand_ about?" Nora asked.

"It's about a group of people fighting evil in a post-apocalyptic world."

Nora sniffed. "You mortals and your obsessions with the apocalypse. Tell stories about triumph, about glory, the way you used to! They're a lot more fun than 'darkness be my friend against more darkness that hides in darkness'!"

It occurred to Ruby that Nora had leaned in close. Real close. She looked up from the book and saw Nora was almost leaning over the book at this point.

"You have no concept of personal space, do you?"

Nora grinned. "None. In Asgard there is no such thing. We touch each other however-"

_She's not finishing that sentence! _"Too much information."

"But I haven't gotten to how the glorious Lady Sif and I-"

"I am on a need to know basis about your exploits, and I declare that whatever you're about to say is something I don't need to know."

Nora made a pouting face that reminded Ruby of a begging puppy. "Don't you _want_ to know?"

"No."

"You're even less fun than Lie Ren."

Ruby remembered Lie Ren's warnings about Nora all too well. Nora was someone best kept at a reasonable distance. Too many BEACON members had found out the hard way about not heeding that simple advice.

"Only sometimes," Ruby said, offering Nora a smile.

"Remind me when you're being more fun than Lie Ren and I will happily regale you with my tales of Asgard. I have achieved so much glory that my father is finally proud of me, though he is disappointed in I taking a liking to Midgard."

"All right," Ruby said.

One of the BEACON field officers, Brock Rumlow, approached Nora then. He was a veteran BEACON operative, in his mid-forties, with dark hair and a tall, well-built physique. Nora turned to look at him, and remarkably, Brock was not fazed like a lot of other humans Ruby had seen.

"We're approaching your destination. Time to jump."

Nora pumped her fist in the air. "As you mortals say, 'okay'!"

She turned to Ruby and grinned widely, waving at Ruby like she didn't have a care in the world. "Tell me about your mission when we see each other again, Ruby!"

"Um, sure," Ruby said, offering an awkward hand flip.

The ramp was already lowering, and the sound of the wind was making it difficult to hear her own voice, much less Nora's. But Nora seemed to hear her anyway, because she smiled before she ran off.

"Farewell, Ruby of the Roses!"

Ruby had corrected Nora more times she could count over her name. Ruby had decided a few months ago that it was something Nora did on purpose, because she _did_ get Ruby's name correct in other, more serious or casual instances. It was just something Nora just liked to say, because . . . she was Nora.

Ruby watched Nora run towards the ramp and leap into the air, vanishing from sight. Ruby heard an audible "_Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!_" above the din of the air and the plane, as if it had been amplified by a god.

Then again, she pretty much was one.

A young BEACON operative stared at the closing ramp, horror clearly on his face. "Was she wearing a parachute?"

"Nope," Brock and Ruby said in unison.

"She doesn't really need one, does she?" the rookie asked.

"Nope," Brock and Ruby said in unison again.

Brock turned to Ruby then, just as the ramp closed. "Final briefing's in 0100 hours. We'll be arriving at Hong Kong pretty quickly."

"Thank you. I'll be there." Ruby set her watch to fifty minutes, and smiled as she looked at Brock. He was an older, more mature presence among her frequent collaborators on these missions, and Ruby appreciated him for that. Too many of these kids and rookies didn't know what they were getting themselves into, even though, biologically, they were older than Ruby.

Brock nodded. "You always are."

He walked away, leaving Ruby with her book. With a sigh, she opened it up again. Stephen King was not a bad writer, but he was not Ernest Hemingway. They had similarities, including fairly plain, simple prose, but King lacked the edge Hemingway had. Hemingway's prose was hard, anti-literary, much like King's, but Hemingway could _cut_ so much more.

She thought about switching to _The Old Man and the Sea_. It had been released after the war, like _Across the River and Into the Trees_, which she had finished a short time ago. It was the last Hemingway novel published before he had tragically killed himself, and Ruby was trying to save reading it for when she felt it was the right time. It still didn't feel like the time was 'right', but she so desperately wanted to read it.

Novels these days disappointed her. She had yet to find a female author on Jane Austen's level. _Twilight_ had her holding her sides in laughter after just fifty pages due to the sheer_idiocy_ of the characters and the childish prose and airheaded dialogue. Suzanne Collins wasn't bad though, with her _Hunger Games _work, but that trilogy sometimes got depressing just for the sake of being depressing. There wasn't much a point to piling on additional tragedy, especially towards the end. And the less she could say about Laurell K. Hamilton or Anne Rice, the better.

Maybe she just wasn't looking in the right places. Maybe she was too busy listening to what other people recommended instead of seeking out what she truly wanted on her own.

She set down _The Stand_ and pulled out her copy of _The Old Man and the Sea_. Feeling the book in her hands, it took her back to when she had Hemingway on other planes, long ago . . .

* * *

_Over Sicily, Italy  
July 9th, 1943  
Operation Husky_

Ruby was almost through the third chapter of _For Whom the Bell Tolls_. After years of searching for it, she had finally found it. She had traded all of the Hershey bars, cigarettes (which she found disgusting) and lemonade packets she had stocked up in order to have the book. It wasn't like she had any bookstores to visit when she was always on duty, and she figured she could stockpile more chocolate down the line. She already had a couple of bars on her, so she was already making progress on achieving the ultimate chocolate stockpile to share with her sister after the war was over.

Literacy was something Ruby loved. In all of her environments, she had been surrounded by people who couldn't read, couldn't write, couldn't spell. The ability to read was like a portal to other worlds, to the fringe of imagination, had opened. Hemingway was her favorite (Jane Austen was a close second) due to his brutal simplicity. There weren't any fancy descriptions, there weren't any unnecessary words, no pretentious preaching or speeches. It is what it is. Ruby had to figure out what Hemingway's themes were herself, without them being told to her, and she appreciated that.

Reading about the Spanish Civil War reminded her of her own war. Hemingway knew what war was like. It was like reading a journal from a kindred spirit. Ruby wanted to meet Hemingway someday, to tell him how much she appreciated his approach to writing, how he skillfully showed his themes without telling the reader what they were, how she felt a connection beyond being a mere reader just by opening his books.

It wasn't like Ruby would ever meet Jane Austen and tell her how much she appreciated _her_, so . . .

A hand on her shoulder. "Ruby, it's almost time. Put it away."

Yang's voice. Ruby turned to her right and saw Yang looking at her, smiling.

"I was almost finished with the third chapter."

"You can finish it after we're done with the mission. Consider it motivation," Yang said.

"Aww. All right," Ruby said softly, and she memorized the page number and closed the book. She quickly stuffed it into her pack.

The soldier to her left eyed her. "I can't believe the goddamn army's sending little girls like you to war now."

"I'm not a little girl," Ruby said softly, for the umpteenth time in this war, it felt.

Before either of them could say anything more, the leader of the 'stick' stood up. Lieutenant Bradley McCoy looked like he was approaching thirty, but Ruby didn't feel too assured about him. No one from the 82nd Airborne Division had found in combat before. Being attached to the best group of men in the regiment didn't mean much to her. Until they saw battle, there was no real way to tell who the 'best' was.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen stand up! We're approaching our drop point!"

"What drop point?" shouted a paratrooper near the front. "You take a look out the door, sir? It's pea soup!"

"Fog or not, the pilots have given me the signal that we're dropping. Now I need to make something clear to you all here."

McCoy cleared his throat loudly and began speaking. "We were handpicked by Colonel Gavin himself for this mission! He considers us his very best men! Our mission is to ensure these young ladies here complete their own! They may not look it, but those ladies we're jumping with _are _the best soldiers in the entire United States military and we need to bring them back home!"

"You're shitting me!" shouted a para. Ruby got the uncomfortable feeling she was being stared at.

"I am _not_ shitting you, Corporal! We are the best of the 505th and that is why we're going with them! We are going deeper into Sicily than any other plane! Those young ladies saw a lot of action in North Africa, and half of their dossiers are blacked out! They wouldn't be so goddamn classified without reason, and I've seen why that is!"

Suddenly, Ruby heard metallic _pings_.

_Shit, they're shooting at us!_

"Stay calm, Ruby," Yang said softly.

"I am," Ruby lied. "I am."

The red light turned on. Ruby knew what that meant.

"All right, stand up!" McCoy shouted.

Everyone did.

"Hook up!"

Ruby fumbled with her hook but managed to clip it onto the wire. She could feel Yang sifting through her equipment, making sure it would trigger.

"Who's shooting at us?!" screamed someone in the back.

"The Italians! That's why they haven't shot us down yet, they can't hit the side of a-"

An explosion near the front of the plane nearly knocked Ruby to the ground. She felt Yang immediately reach for her and pull her back up.

_Oh my God. Oh my God. Are we going down? _

"L-T's gone! L-T's gone!"

"Get the hell out of the plane!"

"Move it, move it!"

By the time Ruby regained her senses, she saw the three soldiers in front of her pushing themselves out of the plane. As the third one left, Ruby saw the body of Bradley McCoy, burned and bloodied.

Ruby stiffened. Even the worst of Africa had never made her this scared. She could still hear bullets hitting the plane, and she could hear screaming and shouting behind her.

_Am I going to die like him? I'm gonna die like him, aren't I?_

She felt her sister's hands on her shoulders. "I'm with you, Ruby. We're jumping together. Come on."

Somehow Ruby was able to move her legs and approached the opened door.  
_  
This isn't right. We're jumping too early. Way too early._

"Ruby, I'm with you! Go!"

Ruby looked down, towards the ground below. At least three anti-aircraft guns were shooting at the plane, judging by the white flashes.

_Just like jump training. Just like jump training._

Ruby took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and walked out of the plane.

She felt like she was nearly being blown off the plane. Immediately she felt sore all over her body. The plane was going much too fast.

She looked down, holding onto her activated parachute for dear life as she approached the ground.

_Just like jump training. Just like jump training_.

The wind was blowing her towards a small tower, and she realized she was going to crash right into an enemy soldier at the very top.

_Dammit!_

Ruby stiffened and prepared to fight as she was about to crash into the unknowing soldier.

_This isn't like jump training at all!_

Impact.

* * *

_Somewhere over Hong Kong  
Present Day_

"You all right?"

It was Lie Ren. Ruby shook her head out of the doldrums and looked over at him.

"I'm fine. Just waiting until we land."

_At least I don't have to jump this time._

The mission was simple. There was a club in Hong Kong run by a Hei "Junior" Xiong, He was rumored to be connected to the terrorist group "White Fang", particularly in ferrying Dust to them. Intelligence said that was true, but rumor also had it that he was holding at least one BEACON agent hostage. Ruby and Lie Ren were to enter the club as a couple, find out the truth, find the hostage(s), and if backup was necessary Brock Rumlow and company would break in and light the place up.

It was a mission guaranteed to end in violence, and in way Ruby was more comfortable with that than if the mission could swing either way. It was less stressful than worrying about whether to avoid battle or not.

Suddenly, her phone beeped. Ruby took a look at the screen, saw the name of the caller, and sighed. "Hang on, I gotta take this."

She turned it on to see a video of Weiss Schnee, looking proper and dressed in white like she almost always was. "_Hey, Ruby! How are you?_"

"Classified," Ruby offered.

"_Ah, _that_kind of mood, huh? Did you bring Argentum Rose with you?_"

"First tell me how you tapped into a secure line."

"_I'm Weiss Schnee_."

Ruby sighed. "Good enough. And yes, I have it."

"_Oh good, you're finally trying it out! I designed that weapon specifically for you! It's far more efficient with using Dust than Crescent Rose, and it can revert to a far more compact state. Perfect for undercover work._"

"I know what it does, Weiss." Though Ruby wasn't thrilled. She loved her Crescent Rose, but Weiss had been begging Ruby to give Argentum Rose a shot for months. Ruby felt there was no harm in using Argentum Rose for this one, she didn't want to keep hurting Weiss' feelings and this was definitely going to become a combat op.

"_Well, when you come back to the States, want to hang out for a little bit? I'm going to try to get all of the girls together for a meeting, and Lie._"

"What am I, chopped liver?" Lie sighed.

Weiss' eyes widened. "Oh crap, Lie heard me, didn't he?"

"He did," Ruby said with a wry smile.

Weiss rubbed her forehead. "_Sorry, Lie! It just feels weird to think of you as one of the girls!_"

"I'd . . . prefer to not be thought of as a girl," Lie said softly.

"_We need to get another guy in here. You need a guy friend." _

"Please stop talking," Lie said softly. Ruby, for her part, was finding it hard not to laugh.

"_Well, anyway, give me all of the relevant date and your thoughts about Argentum Rose, Ruby! I've got to do the prodigal playgirl philanthropist thing on my side of the world . . . and before you're caught talking to me on a supposedly secure feed. See ya!"_

"Sure. Bye," Ruby said, and Weiss killed the connection then.

Ruby looked over at Lie. "Sorry. She gets like that."

"I've noticed. A lot."

Ruby chuckled. "Well, let's get ready to depart. I'm sure Weiss is jealous on the inside, why else would she have called? I get to hit a club and she can't."

"She takes advantage of her being legal far too much," Lie said.

"Well, she is a 'prodigal playgirl philanthropist', in her own words," Ruby said.

"She's one of those things, for sure," Lie said.

Ruby caught the joke right away. Lie was good with the deadpan, though sometimes she couldn't tell whether he was joking or not.

"She's not that bad. Honest. She helped finance me getting pulled from the Arctic," Ruby said.

"If you say so. We're about to land, time to get ready," Lie said.

Ruby nodded. "Yeah. Right with you, Lie."

They sat down just in time for the plane to touch ground.

Playtime was over. Now it was time for work.


	4. Clubbed to Death

RIP Monty Oum. We all love you. Godspeed.

There will be a chapter dedicated to his memory down the line. This isn't it.

* * *

**Chapter Four: Clubbed to Death**

_July 10th, 1943_

_Sicily_

_Operation Husky_

It was a fight to the death the moment Ruby crashed into the Italian soldier stationed on the exposed top of the small tower. Ruby stretched her arms out and forced her weight to the front of her body, and smashed the Italian soldier's ribs in with her knee. The soldier gasped in pain and his grip loosened on his rifle, which Ruby seized and immediately clubbed him over the head, knocking him off the tower completely and sending him to the ground below.

It wasn't the first life she had taken, and Ruby knew, without needing to reflect, that it wouldn't be the last.

"_Americano! Americano!_" came the shout from down the tower, before Ruby could even fathom cutting herself free of her parachute.

Ruby rushed to the stairwell with the Italian rifle in hand and immediately saw an Italian soldier. Ruby took aim and fired and put a bullet in the Italian soldier's skill. She fumbled with the bolt, as this rifle, the Carcano M91, was an unfamiliar rifle for her, but she managed to get the next bullet in place by the time the next Italian soldier appeared.

Ruby shot him too. And then a third, as he was reaching for a grenade to throw.

A fourth appeared as Ruby was going to look for her knife, and Ruby aimed and fired only to hear the worst sound she could hear: a _click_.

_Dammit!_

Ruby did the only thing she could do as the Italian aimed for her head, and that was chuck the Carcano at the Italian with all of her strength.

The rifle smashed into his face, right on the nose. He crumpled to the ground and fell down multiple stairs before he finally came to a rest, and didn't move.

Gasping for breath and already drenched in sweat, not from exertion, but from raw _fear_, Ruby forced her trembling hands to search for her knife so she could finally cut herself free from her parachute. All around her, she could hear shouting and gunfire, but she couldn't hear Yang's voice above the din.

_Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead, Yang._

Just she cut herself free; she heard a loud explosion in the distance that made her grip the stone to her left for support. Had to have been a plane that had gotten shot down. Maybe it was her own.

There were more Italian guns than American ones now. As Ruby slowly, deliberately, descended the circular flight of stairs, she unslung the M1 Garand so it was in her hands, but she was already questioning the idea.

_Should I switch to Crescent Rose? Wouldn't that be better?_

Crescent Rose didn't have a lot of ammunition though, it was hard to come by. Even though Ruby had built Crescent Rose and had also designed her ammunition, the Allies were having trouble controlling Dust to insert into bullet casings, so Ruby and Yang weren't exactly getting a lot. Wasting Crescent Rose at the very beginning of her mission would likely be a critical error.

_Not using it and being dead is a critical error too, _said a voice in the back of her mind.

She reached the entrance/exit of the tower, and hid behind the doorway. The door was long gone, likely blown off or removed. She could hear Italians shouting outside, and they sounded close. Really close.

She peeked outside and suddenly saw four or five Italians running in the open field outside.

Ruby ducked back, gripping her rifle so tightly she thought she was going to smash the wood. She was cut off from everyone else. And if she dared to stick her head out or try to shoot her way out, she'd no doubt be wounded if not killed. It would be outright suicidal if she hadn't been changed by Dust.

_I'm going to have to use Crescent Rose. That's the only way I'm going to get out of here! _

Shaking, she began to put away her M1 when she heard a deep firing sound, almost like a train, erupt from outside.

_That's Yang!_

She wasn't using Ember Celica. Ruby remembered that Yang's standard weapon of choice was the Browning Automatic Rifle, or the B.A.R. Yang had super-strength like her and loved to show it off, and she could handle the B.A.R. like it was a pistol.

Ruby leaned back outside to see Italians scrambling to get away from the B.A.R. bursts. Two of them were coming right for her position.

Ruby shouldered her M1 again and opened fire.

Both of the Italians dropped like they had slammed into a brick wall and laid limp on the ground.

Ruby forced herself to not look at the bodies. Any of the bodies. Just for Yang. Only for Yang.

She saw Yang then, charging through the field, her head turning here, there, everywhere. Clearly looking for Ruby.

"Yang!" she shouted.

Yang spun towards Ruby. "Ruby! You're all right?"

"Yes!" Ruby said.

Yang waved for Ruby to follow. "Come on, we need to get out of here! We're sitting ducks in the village!"

"A-All right!" Ruby pumped her legs and forced herself to run as fast as she could after her sprinting sister. Yang had more to carry, being a B.A.R.-user, so Ruby made up more ground than she expected as Yang led the way, cutting down a couple of more Italians who crossed her path, before they made it outside the village and into the Sicilian brush.

After another football field or two of sprinting, Yang slid behind some bushes and trees and Ruby joined her, both of them gasping for breath.

In the distance, the gunfire had stopped. All they could hear now were anti-aircraft guns and flames.

"Dammit, Ruby," Yang gasped. "What were you thinking, crashing into a tower like that?"

"It wasn't my idea!" Ruby wheezed. "That's how the wind took me! I was falling too fast to have control!"

Ruby sat up. "Where's everyone else?"

"I don't think the entire stick got out of the plane," Yang said. "I saw the plane crash. Not everyone landed in cover either."

Ruby froze. "S-So everyone else could be dead?"

"Either that or they're too far away from us to be much help. I also think we landed off course. There should only be one village between us and our target and that _definitely_ wasn't the village."

Yang had caught her breath by this point, as had Ruby. Yang was checking her B.A.R. ammunition, and, apparently unsatisfied, she dumped the clip and pocketed the two bullets she had remaining.

Yang, as slowly and gently as she could, loaded a fresh clip and cocked the weapon so a bullet was in the chamber. "I think we dropped closer to the coast than we should have. I think there's railroad tracks directly north of us, if we follow them to the east and then make another turn to the north at some point we should be back on course."

Yang was better at memorizing maps than Ruby was. Ruby had no idea how Yang kept all of this information in her head.

Ruby heard a distant roar then, above the din of the anti-aircraft guns. "Yang."

Yang looked up in the sky. "I know. I hear them."

As Ruby looked up in the sky, she could see the distant figures of Allied planes flying over them through the fog. And people jumping out of them.

_More paratroopers. Then we must have landed on the edge of one of the drop zones!_

Ruby thought that one over for a second. _Either that or they're being dropped off course like we were. _

"I think we just found our backup for our mission," Yang said. "Hurry, before they think we're enemies."

"How can we do that?" Ruby asked, as Yang sprung to her feet.

Yang turned towards Ruby and smiled. "Simple. We start talking to them before they even think to pull out their weapons."

Yang immediately began moving, and Ruby dutifully followed. She saw a paratrooper landing straight ahead to the right, next to a tree cluster, and made a beeline right for him.

She made it to him just as he landed. He looked young, though that might have been due to how wide his eyes were when he saw Ruby. Seeing a girl in American combat uniform probably was unexpected.

"Hi," Ruby said. She eyed him up and down. He was actually kind of cute.

"H-Hi?" the soldier asked.

It occurred to Ruby that she should probably introduce herself before attempting to drag this soldier into her mission. Looking him over, it looked like he had brought along a . . . Karabringer 98, with a scope? Why was he using a _German _weapon?

Ruby shook off the paranoid thoughts. He had just dropped from an _Allied_ plane, for heaven's sake. He likely took it off a dead German in Africa. And that meant that he was a _sniper_, at that.

_Damn, Yang and I lucked out on this one! About time we lucked out on _something _during this crappy mission. _

Ruby smiled. "Captain Ruby Rose, Office of Strategic Services, temporarily attached to the 505th as a special operations officer. Nice to meet you, soldier. Got that gun off a dead Kraut?"

"Yeah. Got him in Bizerte and took his gun." The young soldier paused. "Wait. _Who_ are you?"

"Captain Ruby Rose, O.S.S."

"There's no way in God's good heaven that you're a captain."

Same reaction from every soldier who didn't have clearance. Ruby hated to admit it, but she was getting used to it. "Do I _have_ to get my dog tags out for you to believe me?"

The young soldier stared, and then looked away. "No. I believe you."

"Oh yeah?" Ruby had never convinced anyone so easily before. This was actually kind of weird.

"Your eyes," the young soldier said. "You have the eyes of someone who's killed. No one with your eyes would lie about being a soldier."

Ruby froze. She had never expected that answer at all. This young soldier was far more insightful than she could ever have thought. Despite being a golden boy with looks made for the silver screen, he was a clear veteran.

Ruby looked over to her left for Yang. She had already found two soldiers. Ruby knew she needed to get a move on.

"Well, glad you believe me. I'm conscripting you and that rifle of yours into the O.S.S. until further notice. What's your name and rank, soldier?"

The young soldier looked up at her, as he pulled out his knife to cut himself free from his parachute.

"Corporal James Barnes, 82nd Airborne."

* * *

_Club Chén, Hong Kong, China  
Present Day_

The club was packed full of people, with loud, electronic music playing at a decibel where Ruby could barely hear her own thoughts, much less Lie Ren's.

_I guess it would have been too much to ask for the club to be closed when we showed up. _

As she maneuvered her way around the ground, she felt Lie tapping her shoulder. "Look, by the barstand."

Ruby followed Lie's hand until she saw him. Yes, this man definitely fit the profile of Hei "Junior" Xiong. Native of Hong Kong, spent formative years in the United States, moved back during his college years and stayed here. Reported to be connected to White Fang and other unsavory groups, and considered dangerous.

He was tall, wearing a suit sans the coat, and he had a black goatee serving to make his already tough appearance even tougher. He looked like a muscular, strong individual, but Ruby doubted he had muscles for brains. No one stupid could have an operation like Junior had for so many years.

"How do you want to play this?" Lie asked. "He's got a small army of henchmen and I think the DJ may be armed too."

_What would Yang do? _

Ruby sighed.

_Oh, I know what she'd do._

"Honestly, it wouldn't be surprised if we've already been spotted and identified," Ruby said. "We're taking the direct route!"

"Why does this _not_ surprise me?" Lie moaned.

Ruby, having already made up her mind, marched right for Junior. She looked out of her peripheral vision and saw several guards did have their guns and they were waiting to shoot. Yeah, Junior definitely knew they were here, and trying to back out now would just cause a gunfight in a disadvantageous position.

The only way to get out of here and still succeed in her mission objectives was to seize the advantage while she still could.

She marched towards the barstand. Junior was already eyeing her. Ruby made no move towards her weapon, though. As long as Junior was lead to believe that this was a direct negotiation tactic, there was a chance the mission could still succeed without violence.

Though Ruby honestly doubted it.

"I know you," Junior growled as Ruby got close. "Miss America, they called you in World War II. The girl who was a popsicle in the Arctic for decades before they thawed you."

"If you truly knew me, 'Miss America' was a name the propaganda people used in place of my real name, _after_ the war was over," Ruby said. "I was never called that in the field. My sister was never called 'Golden Girl' either."

Junior scoffed. "What do you know about _me_ then, if you think you're so smart?"

"You run a highly successful club," Ruby said. "You also deal arms under the table and you also assist White Fang in unscrupulous activities."

"Who the hell says 'unscrupulous' anymore?" Junior asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Well, you asked me how smart I was, so . . ." The look on Junior's face to that comment was priceless enough Ruby didn't even bother to finish the statement.

"Look, I read a lot of literature as a kid. I picked up words. And, honestly, the way this conversation is going is _asinine. _So . . ."

"What does 'asinine' mean?" Junior asked.

"It's another word for 'stupid'," Ruby replied.

"Why don't you just say 'stupid' then?"

Ruby felt ready to strangle Junior. "If you want to turn this into an insult parade, I got plenty of ammo for you. Number one, aren't you a little old to be called 'Junior'? Unless they're referring to something _else _about you."

Ruby let that hang in the air for a moment, just to let it sink in. It did, with Junior both widening his eyes in surprise and then giving Ruby the evil eye. "I get the point."

Lie sighed. "Want me to take point on this?"

"I got it under control," Ruby said. "Just showing Junior that there's a lot more I can say but I won't, as long as he's willing to keep things cordial."

"You can't expect 'cordiality' if you're just going to barge on someone's property to make demands," Junior said. "I don't know how things worked back in World War II, Ms. Rose, but they don't work that way nowadays."

"I haven't made demands," Ruby replied. "All I plan on making are . . . requests. Requests that I strongly recommend you agree to, because BEACON doesn't negotiate."

"No one from America ever comes to negotiate," Junior grumbled.

Ruby studied the man. His eyes were too hardened. This man was not going to capitulate to whatever she said. He was the type of man who was persuaded by ability, not by words. In other words, he was going to need to be beaten up and left lying on the ground with blood coming out of his nose. Then he would understand.

Ruby tensed up. It wouldn't be long before the battle began.

"Right now, I know you have BEACON agents in custody in the back room. I want you to give up custody of them. If you don't, I'm afraid Lie and I are going to have to kick your ass and likely cause a lot of expensive property damage in the process."

"You expect me to just roll over and do what you want," Junior says.

"Pretty much," Ruby said, making sure to add extra cheerfulness just to piss Junior off.

"Forget it! I am being paid so much money that whatever property damage you cause, I'll more than make it up! Boys, eliminate them!"

Junior immediately leapt away then, and Ruby and Lie found themselves surrounded by a dozen of Junior's men, armed with machine-guns.

Ruby immediately brought out Argentum Rose, and a silver-colored variation of her Crescent Rose came to life. "I knew there wasn't any way we were getting out of here without a fight, Lie. I saw it in his eyes."

"You could have still tried," Lie said.

Ruby scanned her environment. The music had stopped, but she looked above the crowd fleeing the area, towards the top floor of the establishment, where a DJ in a bear suit was standing above.

"We need to take the high ground. Come on!"

Ruby charged then, and leapt into the air just to land on one of Junior's henchmen, and then used him as a stepping-stone to leap high into the air, above everyone else.

She pivoted in mid-air, and turned her body around towards the henchmen trying to spin in her direction.

She fired Argentum Rose. Immediately, Ruby detected a much stronger kick, and a more powerful shot, compared to her Crescent Rose. Enough so that a few of these shots were continuing to propel her higher in the air.

Ruby hit the dance ball, leapt on top of it, and then leapt off the ball, heading right for the DJ station.

The DJ in the bear suit was most flummoxed when Ruby landed right on top of his equipment.

"Hiya!" Ruby said, before she punched the DJ squarely in the face. The DJ was knocked off of his feet and crashed into the back wall.

Ruby stared at all of the equipment she was in possession of then. She had the high ground, but had no idea how to make any of it work. Researching this kind of stuff hadn't been on her itinerary. She knew how to make record players work, of course, one thing that was nice about this world is that what ordinary people seemed to call 'hipsters' loved vinyl, but this station was a lot more complicated than any record player she had ever seen.

_Well, what does this button do? _

Ruby hit a random button. A random light came on, "KEN ARAI – COMPLEX". The needle went on a random record, and all of a sudden an upbeat electronic song came to life.

_I was actually looking for a way to dim the lights, but this will do. This song sounds good for a fight. _

Lie Ren made it to her, looking bewildered. "You ran up this way just to turn on _background music_?"

"Actually, I was going to kill the lights so we could use night vision on them. Unfortunately, I have no idea what I'm doing, so . . ."

Lie rolled his eyes.

"Besides, now we have the high ground. Junior's thugs will have to come to _us_," Ruby said, ignoring Lie's annoyance, which, she internally admitted, was kind of justified.

As Ruby said this, she saw at least twelve henchmen charging towards her and Lie. They seemed to be splitting their force 50/50, with half coming towards Ruby's side, and the other half coming for Lie.

"Race ya to Junior, Lie. I say we got three minutes before he bugs out with his hostages. You ready?"

"Even if I wasn't, I wouldn't have much of a choice. Let's go," Lie said, as he brought out his twin pistols, collectively called Stormflower, and aimed them right at the henchmen heading his way.

The music kicked into what sounded like its main beat. Ruby liked it. As accidental as it was, this music _was_ good for a fight.

"Way ahead of you." Ruby bent her knees, and picked out her first target.

She charged.


	5. The First Embers

**Chapter Five: The First Embers**

_July 10th, 1943  
Sicily  
Operation Husky_

They were nearly an hour behind schedule, but at least they were closer to their destination.

Yang and Ruby had managed to gather five other soldiers from the stick that had jumped out, and then encountered a force of forty other soldiers during a battle for another village. After assisting in securing the village, Yang and Ruby were camped out in one of the two-story houses near the center of the small village (that likely had a population of a few hundred or less), along with the lieutenant in charge of the ad-hoc unit.

The lieutenant was not happy. "I need every single soldier I can get. I don't know what shenanigans you O.S.S. types are up to but I can't spare a man with Italian and German armor possibly in the area."

Yang pointed down at the photograph she had of Yang and Ruby's target. "This woman is infinitely more dangerous than any Italian or German tank."

The lieutenant frowned. "How so?"

Yang sighed. "Classified."

The lieutenant shook his head. "Then you're not getting any help from me or my men. Explain to me why this Kraut bitch is so damned important and maybe I'll be more willing to help. Understand?"

Ruby could tell Yang was going to blow in short order. Yang's right hand had clenched into a fist. The lieutenant was of lower rank than either her or Ruby, and yet the lieutenant was still acting like he was the boss here.

"And honestly, considering the way you two helped us take this village," the lieutenant continued, "I'd really rather not let you two leave either. I saw you ladies fight. I give you credit for some damn good fighting. Now tell me what the hell's going on or nobody's going anywhere."

"Don't make me pull rank on you, Lieutenant," Yang growled. "Or show you what else I can do."

Yang's eyes flared red, just for a moment. Judging by the puzzled look on the lieutenant's face, the lieutenant had noticed the brief change in Yang's eyes.

Ruby decided to spring in before this got ugly. "Her name is Cinder Fall. And she's not a Kraut. She's an American citizen. A traitor."

The lieutenant spun towards Ruby, his eyes wide in shock. "She's _what_?"

"She's a traitor to our country," Ruby said. "And she's doing something highly experimental and dangerous on Sicily, and that's why Yang and I were sent here."

The lieutenant's jaw went slack for a moment, and he leaned back in his chair. "Damn."

Yang looked towards Ruby. "He's not authorized to know, Ruby. You're breaking protocol."

Ruby turned towards Yang. "I know. We'll have to make him take a vow of silence later. Honestly every soldier in this village will have to take one anyway. Our very existence is classified, Yang."

Yang sighed. "All right. I'll tell you what a mid-level O.S.S. operative would know, Lieutenant, but nothing more. Got it? Remember that this is a privilege, not a right."

"Swell. Go ahead," the lieutenant said, but he seemed to be in a bit of a daze, and Ruby wasn't sure how much the lieutenant was going to take in.

"Cinder Fall, as Ruby said, is an American citizen. However, in the mid-1930's, her parents opted to heed Hitler's call for all people of Aryan descent to emigrate back to Germany. After that, her parents got involved with none other than Heinrich Himmler, head of the _Schutzstaffel_. We don't know exactly what happened, but Ms. Fall's been taken under Himmler's wing personally and she is a_Standartenführer_, which is basically a colonel. And she's been doing some experimental testing to the north of here, likely on new technology. Our mission is to kill her before she can use whatever prototypes or weapons she's testing on our soldiers, Lieutenant," Yang said.

The lieutenant nodded, still looking a little out of sorts. "I understand."

"Now, there's a possibility that with a war going on she may have already fled. We were dropped off course," Yang said. "But we still have to go to the location our field officers specified as her testing grounds and verify her presence or lack thereof. If she is not there, Captain Rose and I will gladly return back here and defend this village until relief. But we need to verify she's remained in her location, and if she's there, we have to kill her."

"Swell. Tell me what you need and you got it, ma'am," the lieutenant said, with a defeatist sort of dismay in his voice.

Ruby could see what was going through the lieutenant's head. Fear. Yang had instilled fear in him, just by admitting that some sort of experimental weapon could be unleashed on him and the men in the village. That wasn't the complete truth, the truth was more complicated than that, but Yang had already said more than Ruby had expected her to say.

"We need Corporal James Barnes," Yang said. "He has battle experience and we need a sniper, since my scope-equipped Springfield broke in my landing. Other than him, Captain Rose and I need four men with battle experience before today. That's all that'll be necessary to kill Cinder Fall and any bodyguards she may have."

_She _will_have, not may have,_ Ruby thought. _That is, if she's still there._

"Understood," the lieutenant said. "Anything else I can do for you, ma'am?"

Yang smiled. They had turned the tables on the lieutenant and she was taking on quite a bit of confidence from that, or, at least, it seemed that way to Ruby. "No. That's all we need. Have your choices meet us by the farmhouse we're using as an outpost to the north."

"Yes, ma'am," the lieutenant said.

The matter settled, Ruby and Yang departed, leaving a confused and intimidated officer in their wake.

* * *

The truth was, as always, more complicated than fiction.

Yang had left out that it was rumored that _Standartenführer _Fall was experimenting with Dust , the very same substance that had transformed both her and Ruby into the . . . _superhumans_ they were now. It was only a matter of time before the Germans would catch onto the experiments the Allies were doing with Dust, and it was important to nip that in the bud. Especially since Cinder was doing this at the behest of Himmler and his most specialized, secretive unit, the _Ahnenerbe_. What the Allies knew about the _Ahnenerbe_ would chill any human to the bone, due to the _Ahnenerbe_'s obsession with the occult.

This wasn't the first assassination Yang and Ruby had done. Their assassinations of several _Afrika Korps_ officers had helped in the victory of North Africa, among a lot of other things. In general, if something was going to cause severe hurt to the Allies, Yang and Ruby were sent to make sure that didn't happen. But this was the first time they were being entrusted with killing a member of the_Ahnenerbe_ and this wasn't going to be easy.

This was also the first time the shot was being entrusted to someone other than Yang or Ruby due to Yang's special Springfield being broken. Yang was not comfortable with the specialized Karabringer 98 Barnes had. So that meant it was Barnes who had to take the shot.

Barnes had insisted he had used the rifle before. He had taken it off a dead German in Bizerte, and had promptly begun using it in the battle to take that city. It was also easy to find ammunition for it, as all he needed to do was take it off of dead Germans or from captured German supply depots. The Karabringer 98 was more or less the standard German rifle, after all.

At three in the morning, they had made it to the designated hill where the shot was supposed to have been taken. Both Ruby and Yang had yanked out their binoculars, and were surveying the site below them, which was a mixture of ancient, crumbling ruins and flat terrain, perfect for conducting any sort of tests.

Barnes lay prone between them, looking through his scope. The other veteran soldiers Yang had requested were arrayed in defense positions, making sure no German or Italian would sneak up on them.

Ruby saw her first. "Damn. Yang, that's her. That's definitely her."

There she was, dark hair curled up neatly in a bun, wearing what looked like a female variation of the pitch-black Nazi SS uniform, complete with the red, swastika-emblazoned armband, standing in front of one of the ruins, watching a couple of white-coated scientists move some sort of equipment.

The fact that Cinder Fall was still here, with the war right next door, meant that whatever was going on here was of utmost importance. So much so it was worth the risk of being overrun by Allied forces.

Yang looked from her photograph of Cinder, and back to her binoculars. "Yep. That's her. Right in front of the central ruin."

"What kind of crazy lady names their child 'Cinder'?" Barnes murmured as he presumably spotted Cinder for himself.

"Supposedly Cinder was born in her family's house as it burned down," Yang said. "And survived. I guess that's why they named her 'Cinder'."

"Her parents are goddamn insane," Barnes said.

"You don't hear me arguing," Yang said. "Though let's not pity Cinder here. Anyone who's been made Colonel in the SS ain't worthy of pity. And she's just as crazy as her parents for still being here with an invasion going on."

They paused. Ruby asked "Do you have a shot?"

"Yeah," Barnes said. "Just adjusting for the wind."

"If you have a shot, take it," Yang said. "When you take it, Ruby will launch a few salvos below to confuse them, to make it look like a raid. While they're staggering from that, we escape and run back to the village."

"Got it," Barnes said.

He paused. "Just a little more to the left."

Ruby peered through her binoculars. She knew the moment Barnes fired, and Cinder Fall dropped to the ground, she would need to spring into action and cause chaos on the ground below. That was usually her duty when Yang took shots with the modified Springfield.

She was mid-thought when Barnes' rifle _cracked_.

She did not expect what happened next.

The moment Barnes' rifle went off, she could see Cinder suddenly spin in the direction of the bullet, pulling out a pair of weapons that Ruby had never seen before, and one of them swung directly in front of her face.

_Ping_. The metallic noise was audible even all the way on this hill.

Barnes shook. "Holy shit."

Ruby stared at Cinder through her binoculars. For the first time, she could get a clear view of Cinder's eyes. They were not normal colors.

They were _gold_.

"Yang," Ruby said softly.

Yang immediately jumped up from being prone into a crouching motion, aiming her B.A.R. at the enemies below. Cinder's men were already rushing into position. "I know, Ruby! She's been exposed to Dust too! We're pulling back!"

"Got it!" Ruby let go of her binoculars and brought out Crescent Rose, which transformed to life. She switched it into gun mode and aimed it towards the enemies below, but as she did so, she heard monstrous growling sounds in the distance.

_What the hell is that?_

As she thought that, out of the ruins, came three monstrous looking wolves with eerie white masks, marching behind Cinder, exposed, sharp white teeth in snarling motions.

And Cinder herself had transformed her own weapon. It was like a bow, aiming right for . . .

"We need to get out of here!" Ruby fired Crescent Rose below in a panic, but just as she did so, she could hear Cinder's weapon go off like the most distorted, demented bowstring she had ever heard in her life.

An explosion erupted to her right, and she could hear the panicked shouts of the men Yang and Ruby had brought with them.

And then the monstrous beasts began to charge right towards the hill.

And it became clear to Ruby that all hell had just broken loose.

* * *

_Club Chén, Hong Kong, China  
Present Day_

Ruby pivoted Argentum Rose among her attackers, swinging it around like it was some kind of colossal baton, sending every end of it into the gut of Junior's henchmen. They had made the crucial mistake of attempting to crowd the stairs and shoot Ruby up-close, but Ruby was moving Argentum Rose too fast for them to get a clear shot at her. What gunshots were going off were only being deflected off of Argentum Rose, and Ruby, undeterred, continued to knock around the henchmen off the stairs.

She made a quick look to her left to see Lie Ren leaping above his own foes, firing Stormflower at his enemies in mid-air. Stormflower didn't have the kick of Crescent Rose or the "upgraded" Argentum Rose but it still packed a powerful punch, knocking the henchmen aside with each shot that hit them.

_All right. Lie has his side under control. Then . . . _

Ruby moved swiftly as she leapt to the ground floor. A couple of her opponents had gotten up and were attempting to box her in. Ruby swung downwards, barely missing cutting one of the henchmen from the top-down. It was with such force that Argentum Rose was firmly entrenched in the ground from the swing, but Ruby wasn't dissuaded.

She used Argentum Rose like a pole and swung herself around, kicking the three henchmen trying to surround her. Upon landing, she used the momentum to firmly yank Argentum Rose out of the ground, and all she saw around her were henchmen lying on the ground.

_These guys are nothing compared to the Chitauri or German soldiers. _

Ruby turned towards Lie Ren, who was finishing off his own opponents. "Lie, I'm gonna go on ahead!"

"I don't think so."

The broken, almost husky, young female voice nearly caught Ruby off guard. She spun towards the source of the voice, only to find two young women in what looked like combat dresses walking casually into the ballroom. Both had green eyes, porcelain skin, and long dark hair, one dressed in red, the other dressed in white.

The red one smiled towards her twin. "Melanie, who is this girl?"

The white one was even more casual, she had her arms folded. "I don't know, Miltia. Let's teach her a lesson."

Ruby heard footsteps from her left, and she saw Lie Ren catch up. "Actually, I think _Lie _here is gonna teach you girls a lesson instead. Take care of 'em for me, will ya?"

"Ruby, wait!" Lie yelled.

But Ruby had already taken off, leaping above the girls. She knew Lie wasn't going to be happy about this, but honestly she had already wasted a minute and twenty seconds out of her self-imposed three minutes. Junior was probably already at the hostages and if she didn't catch up quickly there would be serious trouble.

"Hey!" the girls shouted, but before they could do anything, Lie had already leapt between them firing both of Stormflower's pistols, knocking them backwards. Ruby turned to see Lie looking quite annoyed.

"Sorry, Lie! We're running out of time! I'll come back once the hostages are secure!" Ruby then turned and ran through the exit, only to find a bunch of cooks waiting for her armed with pans and knives.

_Seriously? I have to fight a kitchen cartel now?_

Ruby leapt onto one of the cutting tables and found herself beset by a bunch of angry men. Spinning Argentum Rose around, she proceeded to knock their weapons out of their hands one at a time, following by kicks to their faces or a blow from the blunt edge of Argentum Rose.

_I'm not gonna kill these guys. They don't deserve death._

As she thought this, Ruby caught one of the knives thrown at her and responded in throwing it at a hanging kitchen pan above where the thrower had been standing. The pan was dislodged and fell right on top of the thug's head, knocking him out cold after he made the most awkward facial expression Ruby had seen in a while.

She jumped to another table and kicked various types of equipment on the table at her attackers, hitting them in the faces and chests. One of the kettles had boiling water in it and sent the unlucky soul dropping to the floor, covering his face.

After one final deflection of a throwing knife, sending it right into the roof, Ruby aimed Argentum Rose at her final attacker. "You really want this?"

The final attacker took out a frying pan and hit himself on the head without so much as a thought, knocking himself out cold.

"I didn't think so." Ruby took off then, heading for the exit.

_Judging by the looks of this Junior was keeping them in the kitchen. That means . . . _

Ruby dashed into the exit and into the alley, and spun to her left, and upon seeing nothing, looked to her right. There, she saw Junior trying to get into a black limo. As Ruby took off running, Junior slammed the door and the limo began to drive away, squealing its tires loudly.

Without hesitating, Ruby switched Argentum Rose into gun mode and aimed low, waiting for the right moment.

Just as the rear tire of the limo came into view, Ruby fired.

The shot was _strong_. And destructive. Perhaps too destructive.

The shot completely obliterated the right rear tire and most likely over-penetrated it and struck the left rear tire as well. Immediately the limo lost control and Ruby could hear squealing, grinding, and crashing sounds.

Ruby switched Argentum Rose back to scythe mode and ran into the street, to see the limo on its side, and Junior forcing open the rear passenger side door so hard that it came flying off.

And, much to Ruby's horror, Junior was aiming a bazooka-like launcher right for her.

"You're not taking me in that easily!" Junior shouted, right before he fired.

They were multiple, homing shots. Ruby looked behind her, and realized if she tried to dodge, she would risk endangering the civilians in the street.

_Dammit!_

Doing the only thing she could do, she spun the Argentum Rose, aiming to stop the miniature rockets before they could hit her.

The rockets exploded and knocked Ruby backwards, onto her back. Ruby immediately leapt back up to her feet. Dust had given her some measure of extra stamina and endurance, a close range explosion like that wasn't enough to take her out for a while. It had helped that the rockets didn't leave any real shards, or, more accurately, Argentum Rose had knocked the shards away.

This also meant that Junior was like her. He was a Dust-user too. A weapon like that couldn't be handled by a normal person.

_I really hope those girls weren't Dust-users too. I'll have to doubly apologize to Lie._

Ruby rushed forward as Junior was trying to reload. "How dare you shoot that weapon! We're around civilians!"

"You're the one who shot at my limo with civilians around! You're just to blame!" Junior shouted as he finished loading his Dust ammunition into the rocket launcher and aimed it at Ruby.

But Ruby was too close and they both knew it. As Ruby swung down, Junior had to move his rocket launcher to block the scythe.

Junior was _strong_, but his weapon wasn't. Ruby saw the weapon _crack_ under the strain of blocking Argentum Rose.

Ruby smiled. She had won. This man wouldn't endanger any more lives.

She repositioned herself and kicked Junior in the side, knocking him out of the car and sending him into the street.

The driver of the limo tried to get out, and Ruby sidestepped and unceremoniously kicked him in the head, which sent him falling back into the car.

Then, Junior aimed his weapon right at Ruby. "Gotcha!"

The weapon exploded and sent Junior flying backwards several feet, leaving him a smoking heap on the ground.

"No. I got you," Ruby said.

She walked forward cautiously towards the motionless Junior, and briefly examined him. Unconscious, and he was going to be in pain for a while, but he'd live.

A small smile crossed her face. There. She had won.

Lifting Junior over her shoulder, she walked over to the limo, where the hostages were slowly, nervously, starting to climb out.

Things hadn't been executed perfectly, but at least needing Rumlow's backup hadn't been entirely necessary. That meant that the mission wasn't at any risk of failure at any time.

Still, she wondered about Lie Ren . . .

* * *

Lie Ren stood between two angry twin girls, his clothes shredded in multiple areas, and blood from multiple cuts on his face, arms, and legs.

The girls didn't look like they were in better shape. The one in the red dress was looking at her dress and one of her broken claws in horror. "Mel, he burned my dress!"

The one in the white dress staggered to her feet, rubbing her head. "He gave me a black eye, Miltia!"

"Let's get him! For real!"

"Yeah!"

Lie sighed as the girls rushed him, shrieking in the signature torment of offended Millennials.

_I hate my life sometimes._

He aimed both Stormflower pistols and fired.


	6. A Woman Out of Time

I apologize for the delays in posting. I have been struggling to make work for me, and I finally figured it out earlier today. So here's chapter 6.

* * *

**Chapter Six: A Woman Out of Time**

_July 10th, 1943  
Sicily  
Operation Husky_

Ruby breathed heavily, gripping Crescent Rose so tightly she might as well have it in a death grip. She leaned against the tree, looking to the left, looking to the right, looking _everywhere_, looking for those horrid creatures, looking for Cinder Fall's army of clearly elite SS troopers, looking for Cinder Fall herself.

All around her, gunfire, panic, shouting. Growling.

Her trembling hands forced Crescent Rose to go into gun mode. She forced herself to listen, forced herself to just plain _not panic_ in spite of every instinct telling her to do so. She took a deep breath, swallowed, and tried to ignore the beads of sweat threatening to drip into her eyes. She had just run for her life, and it was clear the hunt was still on.

And if she fled to the village, those terrible monsters would inevitably be unleashed on those poor soldiers.

No, she couldn't keep running. The monsters had to die here. Those craven wolf-things needed to be killed here so they couldn't kill anyone else!

Most of the troopers were not carrying Karabringer 98s. That much Ruby had been able to see before all hell had broken loose and battle cohesion was lost. She still heard one of those rifles firing among the sea of other guns. That meant James was still alive, he was still shooting. He was still out there. Ruby hadn't gotten him killed.

She had no idea where Yang was. Yang's B.A.R. hadn't been firing since the beginning of the battle. There _was_ a shotgun-esque sound among all of the other guns, but there was no way to tell if that was Ember Celica or not.

_I gotta find somebody. I have to. I can't fight alone._

Growling. Close by.

_Oh my God. _

She could hear it. The wolf-monster. Sniffing. Drooling. Behind her.

Behind the tree where she was leaning up against.

Ruby became as stiff as stone, completely frozen. She might as well been an ice sculpture for how much she moved . . . and how close she was to melting from sheer terror.

She could not stop her heart from thrashing against her chest, like a caged animal trying to escape between the bars of her rib cage. It was hurting, and somehow the pain in her chest was nothing compared to the fear she felt in every other area of her body.

_It's smelling me. _

A growl.

_It's found me!_

Ruby dove out of the way in desperation as the wolf-monster charged the tree where she had been hiding. She hit the ground and rolled back upright to see the monster smash the tree in two, sending most of it toppling right to the ground.

It was a hideous black beast with some sort of white mask on its face and glowing yellow eyes. Ruby could tell without any closer analysis this unnatural beast was clearly affected by Dust. It had been turned into something far beyond the natural order of things.

The monster turned towards her. Ruby screamed and raised her Crescent Rose and fired in a panic.

The monster was blown off its feet and fell backwards into the woods.

Ruby scrambled to her feet, only to find the monster already trying to get back up.

Shrieking from the sight of the monster rising to its feet, she fired again, knocking the creature back down to the ground.

And still it tried to rise.

"Oh no, you're not! You're not getting up! You're not! _You're not!_"

Screaming, crying, shouting, Ruby fired Crescent Rose more times than she could count at the beast's body, until Crescent Rose _clicked_, and even then, she kept pulling the trigger. She pulled the trigger five more times, each time with the firm, telling _click_, which would ordinarily tell her she was out of ammunition. But her ears couldn't quite register it, nor would her brain. Only after she realized, slowly, that the monster's body was no longer moving,

It also occurred to her that she had charged forward, to the point where she was standing over the beast's body. The monster was charred, broken, clearly shot to the point of overkill. And yet, when a single claw twitched, Ruby responded by uselessly pulling the trigger again, only to receive another _click_ in response.

Only then did it occur to her that the monster was dead. Only then did she realize she was out of ammunition. Only then did she realize she was still alive.

Her knees wanted to buckle out from under her, but Ruby's right hand, shaking so much that it brought to mind being stranded in a blizzard, tried to reach for more ammunition to cram into Crescent Rose.

_It's dead. It's dead. Oh my God what was this thing? Gotta find Yang. Gotta find Yang. Or James. Somebody._

But then she heard something behind her. The same stygian bowstring sound from just minutes ago.

She spun towards the sound, swinging Crescent Rose in desperation just as Cinder Fall fired her weapon right at Ruby.

She intercepted the arrows before they could hit her, but the sheer force of the discharge knocked Ruby off of her feet and she crashed into the trunk of a tree. Ignoring the pain, Ruby looked up, to see her target standing before her, almost casually.

Cinder's eyes glowed in an eerie golden light just for a moment, before the glow faded. Even then her eyes did not look completely natural. They were every bit as gold as Ruby's eyes were silver, a trait showcasing their transformations that they could not hide.

Cinder smiled. "Well done! But I'd expect nothing less from you! I take you have been exposed to Dust as well?"

Cinder's command of English was stellar. In fact, she almost sounded like an American, with only a bit of harsh, sharp delivery betraying the onset of a German accent. It reminded Ruby that she was dealing with a traitor, not just an ordinary Nazi.

"I was exposed to it near Yunnan, China," Ruby said as she struggled to her feet. "Why?"

"Oh really?" Cinder transformed her weapon into a pair of short sword-like blades, and she brandished them aggressively before assuming a fighting stance. "Me too. The same ruin, I take it?"

Ruby froze. _No way. _

Cinder laughed. "The Japanese overran Yunnan last year and the ruins shortly thereafter! You really think Germany and Heinrich Himmler wouldn't take an interest in the place, little girl?"

Ruby's thoughts swam with horror. _Dad . . . Dad was still there . . . _

Cinder cocked her head. "Oh, right! You're thinking about Daddy, are you? Thought he might have somehow escaped down the Burma Road before it fell too?"

Ruby could not think, could not speak, even though she knew full well what Cinder would say next.

Cinder chuckled. "The fact that I know your father should tell you everything you need to know, Ruby Rose. Yes, I know who you are . . . and your sister, Yang Xiao Long. I know _everything_."

_She . . . she . . . _

"Dust is a most incredible substance! It's almost _alive_, have you ever gotten that feeling? It seems to choose who lives . . . and who _dies_."

Her voice was the most disgusting and depraved thing in the world to Ruby at that moment and she could not bear to hear that voice anymore. "_SHUT UP!_"

Ruby charged Cinder, bellowing a cry of rage and torment as she smashed Crescent Rose against Cinder's blade. Cinder's only response was a short laugh before she broke the deadlock, but Ruby continued to attack, screaming with every swipe, which Cinder would only deflect or parry, carefully backing away with every attempt to strike her.

"Oh dear, temper temper, cowgirl!" Cinder replied as she continued blocking Ruby's blows. Finally, Cinder outright _ducked_ as Ruby attempted a horizontal swipe aiming at taking Cinder's head clean off, and all Ruby got was a tree, which fell to the left and crashed to the ground.

"You killed him, didn't you?" Ruby cried. "You killed him!"

"I never said I did," Cinder said with a short chuckle. "However . . . Dust seems to have a way of picking those who survive and become stronger, and eternally condemn those who are not worthy! That's all!"

The implication was so clear it hung in the air, almost like it was visible.

Cinder reset herself. "Even the most pureblooded, blue-eyed, blonde Aryans were not chosen to survive Dust! Only me, Ruby Rose!"

Ruby ran forward, screaming, and Cinder blocked the blow with both of her blades.

_She's not budging! Why won't she just fall! Why can't she die so this would be over!_

She wanted to cry. The threat Cinder was implying was threatening to consume her.

_Dad's dead. This bitch killed my Dad! Sent him to die in the ruin just like Mom!_

She forced herself forward with all of her strength, which forced Cinder to back off one step.

_How dare she kill Dad!_

Cinder was unmoved by Ruby's efforts. "And yet . . . you were chosen to live too. And your sister. And a few of my family's beloved German Shepherds."

_What?_

The surprise was clearly evident on Ruby's face because Cinder managed to smile in spite of the strain on her face. "You didn't realize what those beasts were, Ruby? I call them 'Beowolfs'. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think? Reminiscent of classical literature!"

"I hate Beowulf," Ruby growled.

"Of course you do," Cinder replied. "I'd expect nothing less from an American. You Americans always righteously hate what you don't want to understand! I _despise that!_"

Cinder broke the deadlock then and leapt backwards. Ruby thought about continuing the attack, but Cinder pivoted and rushed Ruby in turn.

Cinder was fast. Faster than Ruby expected. Crescent Rose was barely able to keep up with Cinder's blades as she spun around Ruby, probing for a weakness. Each deflection made Ruby's bones shake and her muscles ache, as she tried to hold Cinder off in spite of the relentless attack.

Suddenly, Cinder jumped into the air, leaping above Ruby. Before Ruby could react, Cinder locked her blades underneath Ruby's scythe, and immediately did a mid-air somersault, and Ruby suddenly found herself being lifted into the air.

And she was thrown.

By the time Ruby realized what was going on, she was on the ground, Crescent Rose gone from her hands. And Cinder Fall was walking closer, still holding onto her blades.

_She's . . . she's gonna kill me_!

Ruby had lost her M1 Garand in the initial chaos. Without her Crescent Rose, all she had left was her Colt .45. Ruby fumbled with it until she got it out of her holster and held it in her left hand.

Cinder chuckled. "Really?"

"_Stay away from me_!" Ruby fired the .45 in succession, only to find that Cinder was deflecting every single one of her shots with her blades, no matter where she aimed.

When the weapon finally _clicked_, there was no indication she had injured Cinder anywhere at all. Cinder just twirled her weapons and brought them back into a fighting stance. "Any other bright ideas, cowgirl? Or are you done now?"

_She's gonna kill me. She's really gonna kill me. I'm gonna die!_

Ruby tried to crawl away, only to find herself backing into a tree trunk.

_Where's Crescent Rose? Where did it go? Why can't I find it?_

She stared up at Cinder, who was getting ever closer. "There is no shame in this. You've set back my plans for at least another year, and you killed one of my family dogs. Your mission was a _partial_success."

She prepared to make one final charge. "Too bad for you it will come at such a _prohibitive_ cost."

A thought occurred to Ruby then, as Cinder stood before her, bending her knees, preparing to spear Ruby.

_I can't let her kill Yang too._

She fumbled with her pockets.

_I'm not out of weapons._

She still had a grenade on her.

To use it now would mean Ruby would die for certain. It would be a sacrifice. But it would take Cinder with her.

_She's going to kill me anyway. Kill me like Dad. _

She wanted to cry. This wasn't what she wanted. Death wasn't what she wanted at _all_.

_I want to live. But I'm not. I'm really not. Oh my God. _

She reached for the grenade as Cinder dug her boots into the dirt.

_Please forgive me, Yang_.

But then she saw someone come flying in from her right, charging in, leading with a right fist.

The long blonde hair gave it away before Ruby could even process it.

Yang Xiao Long attacked Cinder head-on with the Ember Celica aimed for Cinder's face. Cinder barely got her blade up in time to block Yang's assault, but it was still enough to knock Cinder off her feet and send her crashing into the grass.

Cinder backflipped while sliding across the grass and landed back on her feet. Yang had clearly thought about continuing on the offensive, but Cinder's quick recovery had given her pause. Instead, she looked back at Ruby with concerned eyes. "You all right, Ruby?"

"Y-Yeah. I-I'm okay." Ruby suddenly realized she couldn't get up. She was shaking so much, and felt so weak, she literally couldn't stand up.

Yang turned back towards Cinder then. Even with her back turned to Ruby, Yang's enraged tone of voice clearly suggested her eyes had changed color to red. "How dare you attack my sister. You want to kill someone, come after me!"

"For the record, Ruby fought quite well, Yang Xiao Long," Cinder said. "Unfortunately, I assume that since you're here you managed to kill both of my other dogs."

"They were rabid. They needed to be put down," Yang replied.

"Then I have no further business with you. I'll get more dogs. And I'll actually have more human help . . . eventually. Away from this forsaken island."

Cinder put her weapons away. "Farewell, ladies. When I see you again, it will be in more advantageous circumstances. I guarantee it."

Suddenly, Cinder spun around and took off into the woods, vanishing like a ghost after the first few seconds. Yang waited for a few seconds, and then her shoulders relaxed.

It occurred to Ruby that there were no more sounds in this forest, other than the sounds of wildlife desperately trying to avoid the carnage of war. The battle was over.

Ruby guessed that by the fact Yang was still standing the Americans had won this battle.

"Yang," she whispered softly. She felt so tired. So tired she almost didn't care that she had no clue where Crescent Rose was. She was so tired, and so happy to be alive, that . . .

Yang turned towards Ruby. Instantly, the anger vanished. Ruby's eyes felt so heavy as Yang ran towards her, and Ruby felt Yang's right hand brush her face.

"Ruby. Ruby, come on. I'm getting you out of here. Stand up."

But Ruby no longer had any strength. The fight had taken it all out of her.

She leaned to the left and collapsed in the warmth of Yang's arms, and fell unconscious with the first feeling of safety she had felt since the war had begun.

* * *

_Over Pacific Ocean  
Present Day_

"Hey, Ruby."

It occurred to Ruby that her hands were shaking. Again.

She put her left over her right to stop both of them from shaking, and she turned towards Lie Ren then. "Hey. You look better. Those girls looked like they cut you up."

"You don't know the half of it," Lie Ren sighed.

But they were all in custody, and that's what mattered. BEACON was going to have a lot to answer for at the United Nations Security Council, but that was okay. One benefit of being a soldier was that Ruby didn't have to deal with the impromptu meetings. Ozpin would be taking care of those.

Director Ozpin was a quiet, private-minded person. Ruby still didn't know much about him despite meeting him for the first time two years ago, after she had gotten unfrozen. He seemed to be a practical, quiet man, who preferred to make actions speak louder than words, but never went out of his way to shove things in people's faces either. He was just . . . pragmatic, that was the best word for him.

Ruby smiled at Lie. "I think I'm going to take some R&amp;R in New York. I know Weiss wanted to try to bring the gang together for a little bit before we head our separate ways again. I know she's going to want to show something off."

Lie sighed. "I really don't have anything better to do. If you can get permission to take leave, I say go for it."

"Okay." Still, as much as Ruby wanted to get away from Washington D.C., she wasn't sure whether it was really the right place to go. There was surely other options.

That young man, Jaune, seemed to suggest a different path.

Her hands had stopped shaking. They did this, still, even though it had been decades since the war. It was as if the decades frozen in ice hadn't had any effect on her at all. She was literally frozen in time, the events of seventy years ago or more felt like they had only happened yesterday, as clear as any day she had spent in the present.

People were noticing her shaking hands. It was random. At least when she heard an odd sound and her eyes would glance towards the sound warily, people didn't seem to notice. The people around her tended to be soldiers in their own rights; they all made the same glances, even the tough Brock Rumlow.

But not everyone had the trembling hands. That suggested something more, something deeper.

_Maybe I'll cut the visit with Weiss short and come back here to D.C. and see Jaune. And . . . _

She couldn't bear to think about what had happened to her friend. Seventy years of time having passed by had not been kind to him. He was in his nineties, his _nineties_, now, and fading away. He didn't have much time left at all. Ruby didn't want to be far away when the time came. It was coming, and soon.

"Are you all right?"

It was Lie again. Ruby brushed it off like she always did.

"Uh huh. I'm fine."

She brought out her cell phone. "I'm going to give Weiss a call right now to let her know I'm gonna try to come. We _would_ like you with if possible, Lie."

"Yeah," Lie said. "I'll be there."

"Swell. Thank you."

Ruby walked away then. She knew the reason why Lie was coming, and it was because she had been drifting off. Ruby had a sneaking suspicion that Weiss was having Lie keeping tabs on her behalf. Weiss was an unlikely friend, if they had met in World War II, they most likely wouldn't have gotten along. But Weiss' company had helped finance Ruby being pulled from the ice in the first place, and Weiss had been a big help in getting Ruby adjusted to modern life and all of the changes.

Soon, Ruby wasn't going to be someone out of time anymore. She'd be . . . normal.

_Sometimes I wonder if I really want to be normal._

Reluctantly, she walked away from the hallway to make her needed phone calls. She had a feeling that Ozpin wasn't likely going to be thrilled about it.

_At the same time, he better deal. I need a break. _

At least she had saved the day. Again.

Hopefully she wouldn't have to save tomorrow, too.

* * *

I made Cinder more obviously evil than in canon. I figured since she was a Nazi her evilness would shoot up +100. Also, the Beowolfs being more terrifying and formidable was an intentional act on my part, as this was Ruby's first encounter with them. Auras don't really exist in this universe (I might introduce them eventually) so I wanted Grimm encounters to be more realistic and terrifying. And considering Beowolfs are the weakest Grimm . . .

Yeah.


	7. A Bridge Too Far

There is a subtle reference to another media franchise in this chapter that is not related to RWBY or Marvel. See if you can find it.

* * *

**Chapter Seven: A Bridge Too Far**

_September 12th, 1944  
London, England  
Three days before Operation Market Garden_

It was time for a new mission. Ruby wasn't sure she was ready for it.

She had survived Sicily. She had survived Italy, including Anzio (_somehow_ Anzio). The quick diversion to Burma hadn't killed her either. Neither did D-Day and the Normandy campaign. Thankfully, after July, missions had dried up as the Allies had advanced more quickly than anyone had imagined, pushing the Germans out of France. Insertion zones were overran by Allied forces before Ruby and Yang could deploy, rending their missions pointless.

It was tempting to believe that this would just be another briefing that would be for nothing. But Ruby had a sinking feeling in her gut that wouldn't be the case this time. The Allies had retaken most of Belgium to go with recapturing France. The soldiers they were most familiar with, the men of the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions, were filled with trepidation as they were expecting to be used as the cornerstone of a big operation. Ruby had a feeling she was about to learn about it.

Their commanding officer was a graying man in his late fifties, a veteran of the first world war, Colonel Stanley Hargrove. Ruby and Yang were far from his only operatives, but being who they were, they got his toughest assignments. Also, with France mostly liberated, Hargrove's carefully maintained network of French Resistance operatives and American infiltrators was no longer necessary, which allowed Ruby and Yang to get more of his attention.

Hargrove reminded Ruby of a grandfather. He had that look about him. He had a deep, worn voice full of authority but was also strangely paternal. He sounded intelligent and wise, but he didn't sound weak or meandering either. He was a man who had seen war at its worst, and he had been lucky to survive a V1 rocket attack just weeks ago on London, when one of the rockets landed at the pub across the street from his headquarters.

Hargrove greeted the two young woman with a small smile as they walked in. "No need to salute. Please, have a seat, Xiaolong, Rose."

"Understood, sir," Yang said. Ruby didn't feel the need to say anything at all.

Hargrove looked at them for a second, and then sighed and shook his head. "I assume you have been hearing the whispers as of late."

"The 101st and 82nd are expecting to drop, sir," Yang said.

"They are not wrong." Hargrove unfurled a map on the table in front of Yang and Ruby, and Ruby's eyes widened. The soldiers had been right after all. This was a map of the Netherlands.

"Field Marshal Montgomery is taking a gamble to try to shorten the war by bypassing the Siegfried Line defenses in the Ardennes," Hargrove said. "He believes that by going through Holland, the Allied forces can loop around the Siegfried Line and be in the Ruhr before long. Theoretically, the war could be over by Christmas if this plan succeeds."

Hargrove's tone suggested skepticism. Ruby thought about letting it go, but her curiosity got the better of her. "You don't sound convinced this is a good plan, sir."

"That's not entirely true. If this works, Operation Market Garden, as the plan is called, will go down in history as one of the most brilliant maneuvers in all of warfare. I am just not convinced it will."

Hargrove pointed at three cities on a map. To Ruby's surprise, the three cities nearly went in a straight line: Eindhoven, Nijmegen, and Arnhem.

"This operation is relying heavily on the First Allied Airborne Army, and will be using the British XXX Corps to provide armored and additional infantry support," Hargrove said. "The 101st will capture Eindhoven and the bridges over the Maas river, the 82nd's responsibility is Nijmegen and the Waal, and the British 1st Airborne will capture Arnhem and the Lower Rhine. By capturing these cities and their bridges, the armor from XXX Corps can cross the Lower Rhine and attempt to penetrate Germany. However, and this is the part I disagree with: the 1st Airborne will be expected to hold onto Arnhem for two days before Allied armor can arrive. That is in the most ideal scenario."

"You're saying we're stretching too much, sir," Yang said.

"Yes," Hargrove said. "I believe we are going a bridge too far. It's relying too much on the best case scenario and the best case scenario may be asking for too much. But . . . for right now, it is time for you ladies to know your part in this operation, which could expand further depending on what happens."

Ruby immediately felt a nervous shiver down her spine. That meant whatever going on was _big_. She briefly dared to ponder whether Cinder Fall and Dust had anything to do with this, and shook it out of her mind. Of course it couldn't! Could it?

Hargrove indicated a section of the map not far from Nijmegen. "The 82nd Airborne will be attempting to seize the towns of Grave and Halden en route to capturing Nijmegen. To Nijmegen's west is Wijchen, which will be initially bypassed in Market Garden. There we will need you both to rescue a member of the Dutch Resistance known as Anton, who communicated something interesting to us and could imperil Market Garden . . . Cinder Fall."

All of a sudden, the entire mood of the room changed. Ruby swore she felt the air get colder. She looked at Yang, and her eyes flickered red for the briefest of moments before they returned to their usual violet.

Ruby remembered Cinder Fall cornering her, torturing her with words, defeating her in battle. Ruby had never been so scared in her life and she still could not shake the terror of that night, nightmares of Cinder Fall and her Beowolf monsters continued to haunt her.

This was the last thing Ruby wanted, and yet, it was now staring her in the face. She could very well have to face the woman who had come the closest of anyone or anything in this war to killing her.

"She's in Holland?" Yang asked.

"I don't believe so. All we could get from Anton is that Cinder Fall is in a prime position to imperil Operation Market Garden, but he didn't give us any details. In any event, he has been captured and taken to the center of town, which is an old castle. Your primary objective is to infiltrate Wijchen, find Anton, and get him out."

Hargrove pointed to the southeast of the town. "There's a small hamlet to the southeast of Wijchen. A member of the Dutch resistance, Johanna, will meet you there and disguise you both as Dutch civilian girls. Let her do the talking and she will get you into the center of Wijchen. This hamlet and the farms around it are also where a small unit of German armor is undergoing maintenance. This armor could cause substantial damage to the Allied attempt to capture Nijmegen by attacking the 82nd from behind. This unit needs to be destroyed before it can join in the battle. This will be a good test for your new, full team."

"They're ready?" Yang asked.

"Yes. Lieutenant North will have operational command of the 1st Airborne Commando Detachment when neither of you ladies are available to command," Hargrove replied.

It had taken an obscene amount of time, but there was finally a proper support unit in place. Officially, it had been in place during D-Day, but it wasn't the full allotment of men yet. One of the soldiers, Staff Sergeant Timothy Dugan (also known as "Dum Dum"), had suggested the name 'Howling Commandos' for the unit, which both Yang and Ruby had balked at.

Yang smiled. She was more enthusiastic about this kind of stuff than Ruby was. "Great. Thank you very much, sir."

"It was a lot of effort," Hargrove sighed. "We had to find men of elite ability who are willing to not only work with women, but also colored personnel. Your bazooka and demolitions specialists are black men, but I was impressed by their ability. I believe ability should come before appearances."

"As do I," Yang replied.

"I do too," Ruby added, though she privately felt that chiming in was unnecessary.

"Then it's good that we've found men who believe in the same thing," Hargrove said. "Now you ladies are dismissed. Please get some rest. The war is not over yet."

"Yes, sir." But when they departed, Ruby did not quite feel reassured.

Even if things worked out the way they were supposed to, this was all leading up to another confrontation with Cinder. Even if the war ended by Christmas, that still left the rest of September plus October, November, and most of December for war. That seemed so far away.

And if Hargrove was right and the Allies were reaching too far . . .

The war wasn't going to end for a long while indeed.

* * *

_Washington D.C.  
BEACON H.Q.  
Present Day_

Ruby wondered how Director Ozpin perceived her. Ruby was in her nineties in every way but appearance and in actual years spent awake. She was only twenty years old for all intents and purposes. The way Ozpin seemed to look at her sometimes suggested pity, other times they suggested he wasn't really giving the girl immortalized as "Miss America" after the war that much credit.

"Ms. Rose," Ozpin said as Ruby entered his office. Behind him laid giant (albeit bulletproof) windows and the beautiful, scenic Potomac River. "Congratulations on a mission well-done. Hei Xiong and his associates are better off in BEACON cells, being interrogated, than on the loose in Hong Kong."

"Thank you, sir." It felt weird for Ruby to not be referred to as 'Captain'. It reminded her that BEACON was significantly different from the O.S.S., which used military ranks. She wasn't so sure she liked the differences.

Ruby looked up at Ozpin. Ozpin was infected by Dust himself, as were a lot of people who worked for BEACON. The Bureau of Enforcement, Analysis, Counterterrorism, and Operations Network was basically the world's Dust policeman, serving at the behest of the United Nations Security Council. Which was another thing that made Ruby uncomfortable. She remembered the disaster that was the League of Nations all too well.

"If it is all right with you, sir, I'm going to take some leave in New York City. My associates from New York City want to have a get-together, and I have no reason to refuse their offer."

Ozpin nodded. "I may still need you on call, Ms. Rose."

_Doesn't he have anyone else available to fight his fires?_ "That's fine."

But now Ruby was reminded of the whole frustrating aspect of working for BEACON. The realization that no matter what she did, they just weren't seeming to make enough progress to put an end to terrorism and whatever other threats that seemed to crop up in the world on a daily basis.

"I may ask you to speak to the graduating students as well," Ozpin says. "You are an inspiration for them. A symbol."

Ruby felt her face heat up. "I never wore the 'Miss America' costume they have on display in the Smithsonian. It was something I was going to be forced to wear after I returned home from the war. Even in ENIGMA codes they never referred to me as 'Miss America'."

"Nevertheless, the example you lead and the power of that costume compels a lot of people who'd otherwise be modifying Twitter in Silicon Valley to join with BEACON." Ozpin turned and faced the Potomac River as he said this, even though he seemed mostly passive for the most part.

"Ms. Rose, what does the Bureau of Enforcement, Analysis, Counterterrorism, and Operations Network mean to you?" Ozpin asked.

"It means someone really wanted our name to spell 'BEACON'," Ruby said before she could stop herself.

Ozpin spun his chair back around, not looking amused. "Excuse me?"

"The reason why it spells 'BEACON' is because it means 'beacon of hope'," Ruby said as she had the odd feeling of a schoolgirl about to be dressed down in front of a classroom.

Ozpin sighed. "Exactly. BEACON represents hope. Hope for the world despite the threats that keep popping up, and hope that Dust can be used not only as an empowerment source to continue the evolution of humanity, but also be used as energy to propel us beyond the stars. BEACON is something entirely based on hope, Ms. Rose."

Pretty words, but Ruby didn't understand his point. "Why are you telling me this, sir?"

"I've been reading interesting reports from people who've worked with your in the field. Your morale seems to be low, and you are increasingly lost in your books and also increasingly cynical and barbed in your choice of words and humor. It's to the point where people are thinking Weiss Schnee has rubbed off on you."

Ruby's mind raced. She knew she had been saying bad jokes about BEACON on and off, and she had been reading a lot. But she was under the impression she was _allowed_ to lose herself in a book. And all field officers joked about BEACON and its fallacies and ambitions a lot, just like any officer joining an organization for the first time.

But by looking into Ozpin's eyes, Ruby saw she wasn't going to get out that easily.

"Sir, I am wondering about the enemy we have been fighting," Ruby said. "It seems no matter how many sorties I have been sent out on; we don't seem to be making any meaningful progress."

"Welcome to the War on Terror," Ozpin says. "And also to a world where Dust is increasingly leaking out to the masses. Most cases are resulting in death, but as you saw in Mr. Xiong's club, some people just happen to survive Dust in its most basic form. And not every person who survives Dust is savory. Many organizations, particularly the White Fang, have been using Dust to cause panic and disorder throughout the world."

The White Fang had been blamed for a lot of the terrorist attacks in recent years. Not everyone knew their true nature. A lot of people assumed due to the name they were neo-Nazis of some kind. But the higher-ups in BEACON knew full well they were and they intended to not let anyone else know.

"The Faunus want to be introduced to the world and be accepted by it. If they could do that, they wouldn't be hiding in Africa, forming their own country with the locals," Ruby replied. "Wakanda's existence isn't a good thing, sir. It shouldn't have been necessary."

"Well, apparently, it's become necessary," Ozpin replied.

Ruby didn't like Ozpin's tone. That sounded a bit too condescending for her liking.

"It wouldn't have been if we had treated the Faunus as something special from the start, instead of exiling them or treating them like animals that can't remain in their homelands," Ruby said. "They're victims, changed by Dust just like I was, just more . . . _dramatically_. And yet the only freedom from persecution they can find is by making their own country in Africa, far away from most of their homelands."

"This is not World War II, Ms. Rose," Ozpin said. "The matter is more complicated than that. You can say all the nice words you want but the truth is that as long as the White Fang is committing acts of terrorism a good portion of this world will not accept them."

The sad thing was that Ruby knew Ozpin was right. White Fang had ruined a lot of opportunities for understanding between humans and Faunus. People kept equating all Faunus to White Fang and like-minded organizations and that made peace difficult, if not impossible. And yet the princess of the constitutional monarchy that was formed in Wakanda was still trying to establish diplomatic relations in the world. She was due to visit the United States soon, actually.

Ozpin sighed. "Come on. I want to show you something. It might make you feel better."

He hit a button on his console and Ruby was startled by a loud noise from behind. She spun around to see the wall split in two and slide away, revealing an elevator shaft.

_I really should have seen that coming._

Ozpin moved past Ruby, adjusting his glasses as he walked. "Well?"

Ruby sighed. "Fine. I'm coming, sir."

***  
Ozpin was wrong. What Ruby was seeing didn't make her feel any better. She just felt _worse._

Her initial reaction was to gawk and stare and act like the schoolgirl she once was, mesmerized and fascinated by the newest technology. Memories of _Popular Mechanics, _in its pre-war imaginative prime, rushed through her head.

But unfortunately, the memories of war, the memories of the conflict in New York, the eerie feeling she had of this airship's predecessor all reminded her that none of this was like those predictions of flying cars in _Popular Mechanics_.

This was a corruption of those innocent dreams, a corruption of her childhood fantasies, and she knew it.

"This is the new BEACON Helicarrier Class II," Ozpin said. "This one is almost finished. We have two others in the beginning stages of construction. They will not only replace the carrier badly damaged due to the Battle of New York, among other things, but also begin a new phase of global security. We will be able to deploy rapid-reaction forces even faster-"

"You could shoot anyone with a missile without having to enter their airspace," Ruby said as she looked up at the gunnery pods on the Helicarrier. Not even an army of F-16s or F-35s were likely to take this thing out. It looked borderline-invincible. Then again, the _first_ Helicarrier was thought to be indestructible too. But that was before Loki got inside Pyrrha Nikos' head.

That was a long story Ruby did not want to remember.

"Yes," Ozpin reluctantly said. "It's pinpointed, even more than any missile launched by a Predator. All of the accuracy but we don't need to worry about drone technology falling into the wrong hands. In fact, this means drones obsolete."

Ruby nodded. She looked at the engines, and wondered how much say Weiss Schnee had in designing them. Weiss had gotten to know the engines _intimately_ well, speaking of long stories Ruby did not want to remember.

"Looking at the engines?" Ozpin asked.

Ruby nodded. "Weiss designed them, didn't she?"

"Yes. The engines are powered by Dust, and it uses a renewable filter so Dust is broken down, reformed, and sent through to the engines again," Ozpin said. "Weiss lives up to her father's legacy with this design. It can last as long as a nuclear reactor without the risk of fallout."

_Sounds like I have something serious to speak to Weiss about. _Ruby knew that wasn't quite true either. "No, there's fallout. Just a different kind."

"Dust fallout doesn't eradicate a civilization the way nuclear fallout does," Ozpin replied. "It's the lesser of two evils."

Ruby nodded. But she didn't say anything else. She didn't think she could.

This was the type of airship that kids her age back in the 1930's had dreamed about, in some utopian future where there were no wants. It was sleek, beautiful, powerful. But by looking at the missile pods and all of the defensive arrays, it was something that no kid would even think about.

This thing was a weapon. A weapon more terrifying than anything else that had ever existed.

The adults had taken her childhood fantasies and contorted them into . . . into _something else_.

And, frighteningly enough, even though World War II and the War on Terror were vastly different wars, she could see a stunning similarity between this airship and something that had happened in World War II. Something that had changed her forever, permanently turning her from the girl she had been into a woman who simply wasn't of legal age.

"So, Director Ozpin," Ruby said. "This thing is built to provide a lightning-fast assault, aimed at wiping out the enemy in a swift, solid blow, without the majority of the military having to do the rest of the work. The enemy will cower in fear as they are relentlessly being pursued and beaten, with no escape."

"Where are you going with this, Ms. Rose?" Ozpin asked, his eyebrow raised.

"You are wrong in that my war does not apply to this one," Ruby said simply.

"How so?"

Ruby couldn't stop a bitter smile from crossing her face as she remembered the fall of 1944 in all of its horror, intensity, loneliness, and futility.

She turned towards Ozpin. "There was an operation in World War II that aimed to do the same thing your Helicarrier II does. It was called Operation Market Garden. It was a lightning thrust aimed at chasing a supposedly beaten enemy across Holland and lead right to Berlin, without the rest of the armies having to lift a finger. Guess what happened in Operation Market Garden?"

Ozpin gave Ruby a wary look. "It didn't succeed."

"No, it didn't. Trying to bet everything on a singular solution means that if it doesn't work it will blow up in your face, sir. You have no backup plan, a lot of people are gonna die, and you're going to be left holding the bag."

Remembering Market Garden brought tears to her eyes. A lot of people had died in front of her. Several of them _for_ her. And for what?

Ruby turned to head back to the elevator before Ozpin could see her tears. "Except this isn't a town, a country, or an army at stake. You've put the whole _world_ at stake, sir. One mistake and you could wind up killing a couple _billion _people. Did you ever think about that when you authorized this?"

Ozpin didn't answer. Ruby didn't turn around to look at his face. She had a feeling she knew what his face looked like.

"Have a good day, sir. I'll be taking my leave now."

Ruby turned on the elevator and she immediately began shooting back up towards Ozpin's office.

Only when the hangar disappeared from view did she rub her moist eyes with the back of her left hand, and then punch the elevator wall with her right.

"_Idiots_!" she screamed.

"_There are no 'idiots' recognized by the server. Please input another command_," said the automated female voice in the elevator.

"Oh, go to hell, computer."

"_As an automated construct of BEACON, I possess no human body, much less a soul. Going to hell is impossible for me . . . and would likely be unpleasant for you. I recommend you input a different command._"

Ruby actually started laughing before she stopped herself. _Oh, so Ozpin can think of a witty comeback to input into this stupid machine but he doesn't stop to consider he could be endangering billions of people?_

She shook her head. "What am I doing here?"

"_You were brought here by override of Director Ozpin despite you lacking the clearance-"_

"I didn't ask for your opinion."

"_I am merely stating the facts, Field Officer Ruby Rose."_

"Well, state them another time."

"_That is not in my programming, Field Officer Ruby Rose._"

Ruby sighed in annoyance. _If any of Weiss' A.I. gets like this when I get to New York, I think I just might break them. _

She remembered hearing that Weiss and the Schnee Corporation had helped in building that new Helicarrier she had seen just moments ago.

_Though if Weiss doesn't tell me what the hell she was thinking by helping with this, she and I are going to have a lot of words. And she's not going to like what I have to say._

The words of her commanding officer from the war echoed in her head. "_A bridge too far."_

That's what this whole thing was. A bridge too far.

And if the bridge collapsed, there was no safety net. The failure of Market Garden only delayed the Allies from victory in the war. The failure of the Helicarrier II could result in the death of a good portion of humanity, if not more so. Plus, even if it succeeded, it had chilling consequences for the rest of the world, because _everyone_ was under the gun of the United Nations, and Ruby did _not_ like some of the nations who could conceivably have say over how this weapon was used.

This whole thing was just rotten to the core.

_So why did they build it to begin with?_

Ruby was going to get some answers. And she figured she would start with Weiss Schnee, and cross every bridge she came across from there.

Even if it meant burning them in the process.

* * *

There's been a lot of chapters written for this story. I promise I'll get better about updating the version. Just . . . been difficult.


	8. Rough Landings

Sorry about the long wait in updates. I've been struggling with getting these uploaded through the doc manager. I hope this will resolve itself soon.

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Rough Landings**

_Over Holland  
September 17th, 1944  
Operation Market Garden_

Ruby was in a cramped plane, once again. It was something she was becoming all too familiar with after so many jumps since Sicily. It seemed to have become the O.S.S' favorite method of insertion for Ruby and Yang. In Africa, they had inserted via ship, and then were driven around by the Special Air Service to get wherever else they needed to go. But ever since Sicily? Jumping out of an airplane, almost exclusively.

To make matters worse, this was the first time she was jumping without Yang. The new combat unit that the O.S.S. had assembled exclusively to support Yang and Ruby, effectively making an American equivalent to the Special Air Service, was now the size of a platoon. A platoon needed _two_ planes in order to be dropped into combat. The brass, in all of their wisdom, had decided it was best to have Yang and Ruby separated during jumps from now on, in case one plane was shot down.

Ruby understood the logic, but now this made her afraid. Even more so than jumping with the Chindits to face the Japanese. She _still_ wasn't sure what bonehead decided to send the two most prized soldiers among the Allies into a malaria-ridden hellhole, but obviously whoever did that was put out to pasture because it didn't take very long for Yang and Ruby to be brought back to Europe.

Ruby doubted she would ever know for sure.

"Are you holding up all right?"

Ruby turned to her right towards the source of the voice. Hard to believe it had been over a year since she had met James Barnes. They were both still alive, and both had learned more about each other than either had expected. When Ruby thought about it, James really was the first recruit brought into the new detachment, and he was still alive, defying all of the odds.

"I'm fine!" Ruby said. "Just strange jumping without my sister!"

"She'll be all right!" James smiled. "We'll meet up pretty quickly once we're on the ground!"

Ruby reached her right hand enough to touch James' left, and their hands squeezed for just a moment, before Ruby let go. Fraternization was a surefire way to get James thrown out of the unit, and Ruby was determined to not let that happen. Just as much as Yang, knowing that James was here to watch her back was helping her keep her focus. James had turned into a pretty good sniper, someone to be relied upon, but he meant more to Ruby now on a personal level, since right before D-Day.

She looked straight ahead, to seeing Gabriel Jones, one of the black servicemen Hargrove had drafted for the unit, looking right at her.

There was no doubt Jones had noticed the quick hand squeeze. Now was not the time to address it, however.

"This your first combat jump, Private?" Ruby asked.

"Yes! Just got my wings two weeks ago!" Jones replied.

There hadn't been much in the way of racism or epithets thrown Jones' way or to the other three black servicemen Hargrove had brought in. Hargrove must have worked day and night to find men of a certain caliber willing to fight with women, so it stood to reason that men tolerant of female combatants would also tolerate an integrated unit.

"They're saying this will be a fairly easy drop! I'll be right behind you! You'll be fine!"

Jones nodded solemnly, but then he looked away. He clearly didn't feel comfortable yet, and Ruby didn't blame him. There was a lot to get adjusted to, and Jones probably didn't trust anyone in this unit, including Ruby.

"Red light!" someone shouted. Ruby looked to her left and saw by the open door that the red light had indeed come on. That meant it was time to . . .

"All right, people! Stand up and hook up! We're almost at the DZ!" That was Staff Sergeant Timothy 'Dum Dum' Dugan serving as jumpmaster. He was a former circus strongman who had volunteered for the army apparently to get away from his wife and in-laws. Considering how Dugan didn't seem scared of anything in the war, Ruby had to wonder how frightening his wife and in-laws were.

As everyone stood up and hooked on the line, Dugan pumped his fist in the air. "Who does the Army trust the most?"

"Airborne!" came the shout back.

"Who do the ladies love the most?"

"Airborne!"

"Who's gonna send the Nazis running back to Berlin?"

"Airborne!"

"Damn straight! I want you all kicking German ass out there! We're gonna catch them with their pants down and I want their exposed fannies running all the way to the Ruhr!"

_That is an interesting visual_, Ruby thought.

"You want us to shoot them in the asses too, Sarge?" shouted a private.

"If possible, yes!"

The light switched to green. Dugan reacted right away to that. "All right, we're green! Everybody out! Go, go, go!"

There was no enemy fire coming at the plane. Everyone was filing out in the most orderly fashion Ruby had ever seen from a combat drop. Was this really going to work? Was Market Garden more ingenious than Colonel Hargrove had expected?

When it was Ruby's turn, Dugan grinned at her. "Go get 'em, little lady."

Considering that Dugan was a bit of a giant, Ruby didn't feel that insulted. "I will if you will, Sarge."

"You bet I will! Now kick some ass!"

Ruby let herself drop from the plane then. The chaos in Sicily, Italy, and Normandy was virtually absent. It was eerily quiet other than the sounds of the two airplanes in the air. A couple of gunshot_cracks_, but not much else. Maybe the Germans really were caught off guard here.

_Maybe this will actually be easy!_

Suddenly a gust of wind blew Ruby to the left, blowing her off her intended target. All of a sudden, Ruby realized that . . .

_Not again!_

First was crashing into the tower in Sicily. Then there was crashing into a tree while dropping into Italy. Then she was stuck on jungle branches in Burma. In D-Day she wound up crashing through a barn roof and landed inside a haystack.

Now she was going to land on top of a house!

Ruby slid right off the roof of the house upon landing and began rolling off right towards the ground.

_Dammit! Why does this always gotta happen to me? Christ! _

With an audible "Whoa-oof!" Ruby fell off the roof completely and found herself landing belly first on the grass.

Immediately, ignoring the pain in her stomach and chest, Ruby forced herself to scramble to her feet. She pulled out the first weapon she could find, her M1 Garand, which she had miraculously recovered on Sicily after the Cinder brawl. Some unseen door opened, and she heard the shouts of an angry German soldier.

The moment he rounded the bend, Ruby shot him. It was only after taking the shot that it became obvious she had shot a German officer. He had one helper with him, who leapt out from behind the corner too, and Ruby shoot him too before he could take aim.

After that, all was quiet. Slowly, Ruby reached for her knife and sliced herself free from her parachute. She quietly cursed at herself. She should have known by now that nothing in war was ever easy.

Slowly, she edged out around the house. She could see other parachutes landing in the distance. The advantage of dropping in daylight was that she could see where her fellow troopers were initially landing. It wasn't going to take very long for her to find her squad and get everyone assembled for the march.

That's when she suddenly saw a woman come around the corner. Ruby nearly shot her, and it was only when she realized that the woman was wearing a civilian dress that she kept herself from pulling the trigger.

"_Amerikaans_?" the woman asked softly. She was middle-aged and looking a little too skinny for Ruby's liking. Like she wasn't getting enough to eat.

"Yes," Ruby said softly.

The next part is what Ruby didn't see coming.

The woman ran forward and hugged Ruby deeply, her arms wrapped around Ruby in a bear hug.

"_Dank je_," the woman whispered softly, with just a hint of her tired voice breaking. "_Dank je_."

Ruby didn't know Dutch very well, but she could figure out what the woman was saying. And a small smile came across her face as she found the only words she could possibly say.

"You're welcome."

* * *

_Schnee Tower  
New York City  
Present Day_

Ruby had always wondered what it was like to enter a penthouse suite. It was too bad she never had the opportunity to do so in her own time. Now she was finally getting her chance to see it, and she knew it wouldn't resemble anything like she thought. It was over seventy years since the end of the war, after all. Penthouses weren't quite the way they were back in the 1930's of 1940's.

And elevator music had changed too. At least in some places . . . like Weiss Schnee's. Weiss' idea of 'elevator music' was very, very different from Ruby's. Weiss' idea of 'elevator music' seemed to be distorted guitars snarling and some dude growling about getting 'down with the sickness' and letting out random '_oh wha ah ah ah'_ noises. Then again . . . she was Weiss Schnee and she had an image to keep. She was not some staid, stuffy CEO, she was a prodigious entrepreneur with a lot of edge about her.

Still, this was the kind of "edge" Ruby wasn't exactly in tune with.

_Then again, there aren't exactly barbershop quartets anymore so maybe I should just start getting with it on some things. _

She made it to the top floor then, and she took a deep breath. She wasn't sure why Weiss wanted everyone here, but there had to be a reason. It had been over two years since Ruby was revived and the Battle of New York (unrelated but really close together). This was the first time they were all going to be together in the same room, in the same building. Why?

The doors finally opened and Ruby walked through. "Okay, what's going-"

"Happy birthday, Ruby!"

Ruby stared at the sight, stunned.

And then she smiled. She had forgotten her birthday. She was twenty-one now . . . or far older than that, depending on your interpretation.

Weiss Schnee walked up to Ruby, dressed in a snappy white dress. "Welcome to being legal, Ruby."

"Technically, I'm ninety-"

Weiss didn't let Ruby finish. "Pssh! We all know how old you really are! You're _unquestionably_ legal now!"

Ruby just laughed. "I guess so!"

* * *

Still, Ruby didn't fall prey to Weiss' attempts to get her drunk. Ruby had made her mind up long ago she wasn't going to have a drop of alcohol _ever_, and she rebuffed every attempt to have wine or whatnot. But she nevertheless felt good. She was surrounded by friends. Lie Ren was here, albeit off in the corner mostly keeping to himself. Nora Valkyrie was absolutely drunk out of her mind, trying to catch Pyrrha Nikos' attention, and Pyrrha mostly seemed to be humoring Nora.

"You are the most gallantly terrifying woman in the world," Nora said. "Your enemies squeal like pigs in utmost fear of you and your muscular disposition!"

Pyrrha's face was red, and it was not from alcohol. "Thanks."

"I wish I could spark supreme cowardice in my foes the way you do. What I want . . ."

Nora slumped off the couch and fell halfway to the floor. Pyrrha sighed in relief. Like Ruby, she had chosen not to drink.

Ruby sat down besides Pyrrha. Pyrrha Nikos did not like being in her transformed state, she mostly stayed in her normal form, which was a fairly tall, pretty young woman with red hair and green eyes. She was wearing a black turtleneck and blue jeans, fairly nondescript but Ruby knew Pyrrha wore it in conjunction with a leather jacket outdoors which overall gave her a snappy, no-nonsense appearance. She was Weiss' bodyguard now, and that likely had something to do with her choice to stay sober.

"Looks like even a god of thunder can get drunk," Ruby said.

"Weiss doesn't think Nora is a god. More like someone similar to a human being but somewhat superior. She mentions Clarke's Third Law all the time," Pyrrha said.

"That's because it's true," Weiss said from the entrance to the room. "Sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic, Pyrrha. One of these days I'm gonna find out how Loki turned you into the best linguist in the world!"

Pyrrha raised her eyebrow. "I'd suggest finding a cure for being under the influence first."

"Ah, shaddup. At least I can cure hangovers. And I haven't drunk _that _much yet, my blood is still at the legal limit . . . I think."

"How can you live with her?" Ruby asked Pyrrha as Weiss walked away somewhere.

"Compared to my situation before two years ago, I'll gladly take it. I thought my life was over before the disaster on the Helicarrier."

Pyrrha Nikos was going to be a track and field star for Greece in the Summer Olympics, but had wound up training near a Dust accident gone wrong and that turned her into what became known as the Hulk . . . or She-Hulk, or the Jade Giantess. Pyrrha's alter ego had many names. She didn't like any of them.

Pyrrha once had a severe language barrier, but when Loki had possessed her to cause chaos on BEACON's first Helicarrier, Nora was able to get to Loki and forcibly break the connection. Some sort of mental residue or something was left behind in Pyrrha because Pyrrha had emerged from the experience fluent in dozens of tongues and accents. Weiss was still trying to figure out what exactly it was.

"Have we found Loki yet? I know Nora's getting impatient," Ruby asked.

"Weiss has nailed down a suspect, Roman Torchwick," Pyrrha says. "But we don't have anything concrete on him yet. And we can't have Nora pick a fight with Roman in case we're wrong."

"Roman Torchwick is one of Weiss' business rivals, right?" Ruby asked.

"One of the more dominant ones. He's been trying to usurp Schnee Industries' Dust monopoly with the United States military for some time," Pyrrha replied. "He's just one of many probing for weakness. They keep trying to find something to make Weiss crack under the strain. She was only a teenager when she inherited the company."

"Well, I was a teenager when I went to war, so . . ." The music that was playing in the room was starting to get on Ruby's nerves. Specifically the lyrics. "What the hell's this?"

"Cold, 'Stupid Girl'," Pyrrha replied. "One of Weiss' favorites. Want something else?"

"Yes, please."

Pyrrha changed the song by clicking on a nearby remote. The next choice was still edgy hard rock, but it seemed slightly less abrasive than before.

"I heard you do that, Pyrrha!" Weiss shouted from another room. "Don't mess with my music!"

Pyrrha's face turned red again. "Sorry, Weiss!"

_I'm surprised Weiss can hear at all with this stuff playing full blast all night, much less know when the song's being changed._

Suddenly, Weiss entered the room, with a young girl with green eyes and orange hair, dressed in white like Weiss, at her side.

Ruby's eyes widened. This girl looked young. As young as Ruby had been when she started serving the US military in the war. The pink bow in her hair only served to put additional emphasis on the girl's clear innocence.

Who was she?

"I'm sorry for doing this to you on your birthday, Ruby, but I have an announcement to make at this girl's request!" Weiss cleared her throat. "May I present to you the world's first artificial human being, Penny!"

Penny shyly raised her hand and waved, a bright but somewhat nervous smile on her face. "H-Hi!"

Ruby eyed Penny, who looked just like a human being, and then to Weiss, and then to Penny again. _What did she say 'Penny' was?_

"Penny's been wanting to come out and meet more people besides me and my butler, and so I decided that my friends should be the first to see her!" Weiss said proudly. "Go on, don't be shy!"

"O-Okay, Weiss!"

As Penny walked forward, Ruby looked towards Pyrrha. "You know anything about this?"

Pyrrha shook her head, and her eyes looked as surprised as Ruby felt. "Weiss never said a word to me."

By that point, Penny was right in front of them. She quickly looked away, her face red from embarrassment, as she talked. "U-Um . . . Weiss has told me . . . great things about you both. Ruby, you're . . . you're Miss America, the great hero of World War II, aren't you?"

Ruby slowly nodded her head. She couldn't believe she was having this conversation at all. She knew Weiss was big on technology, but Penny was acting just like a normal human being! A strangely shy and awkward one, but she was capable of independent thought and conversation! She wasn't much different than someone flesh and blood! For all intents and purposes, that meant . . .

_What have you done, Weiss?_

Penny turned towards Pyrrha. "And you're . . . you're Pyrrha! Weiss' bodyguard! You're the girl who turns into an enormous green rage-monster, right?"

Pyrrha buried her face in her hands.

"Oh! Was I wrong?" Penny asked.

Pyrrha just groaned.

"Oh, so I wasn't wrong! You're just embarrassed to hear me call you that! I'm sorry!"

"Mmmkay," Pyrrha moaned, shaking her head in her hands.

Ruby looked past Penny and Pyrrha, to see Weiss at the edge of the room, beaming.

_You have no clue what you've done, have you?_

Ruby got off from her couch and immediately walked past Penny and Pyrrha to get up to Weiss. Weiss raised an eyebrow. "What's going on, Ruby?"

"We need to talk."

"Right now?" Weiss asked, an incredulous smile on her face.

"Yes. _Now!_" Ruby immediately grabbed Weiss by the arm and began dragging her away.

"Hey hey hey hey! Let go of me! That hurts! God, check your super-strength privilege! Ow!" Weiss wailed as Ruby marched her into the next room.

Pyrrha and Penny were too immersed in their awkward conversation to pay them any mind.

As for Lie Ren . . .

He just continued standing in the corner, a thin smile on his face.

They found a secluded office and Ruby immediately spun Weiss into it and slammed the door behind her. Weiss rubbed her right hand. "Damn, Ruby, what's the big idea!"

"Number one, we're in private, so you can drop your damn playgirl act," Ruby said. "And two, that robot girl's the big idea! You have any idea what you just made, Weiss?"

Weiss turned towards Ruby. Her blue eyes had lost their warmth and cheer. Finally, Ruby was seeing the _real _Weiss Schnee.

"General Ironwood has been wanting an A.I. apparatus capable of supplementing combat troops in the field. Penny is the result of his request. She looks like a human, talks like a human, and even can smell and taste things like a real human and she'll gladly eat food in order to fit in."

"That doesn't make her much different than a real human being!" Ruby yelled.

"That's the point," Weiss said. "Your problem?"

"My problem is that you've pretty much just created life!"

There was a period of silence in the room, where all Weiss did was smile thinly. "You're saying I'm playing God."

Weiss was smart. She caught onto things admirably quickly. Ruby was pretty impressed by that, how quickly Weiss could navigate to the center of the problem and tackle it.

"Yes," Ruby said, though she had a feeling what Weiss was going to say next.

"I am not," Weiss said, which confirmed Ruby's suspicion.

"Then what do you call that, a robot that talks and thinks just like a human girl!" Ruby cried.

"My companion," Weiss said, as if that was perfectly acceptable. "Ironwood will have to wait longer for another prototype from me. Penny developed human emotions and thought processes far more quickly than I could have imagined. I still haven't calculated how the algorithms and code made Penny so independent and human-like. At the same time, I can't just cast Penny off as a failure. Like you said, she is not much different than we are now."

As much as Ruby didn't want to admit it, Weiss was probably right about that. Penny was so life-like that to remove Penny from the equation was akin to murder. She was even capable of recognizing her poor social skills and would try to correct them. A few weeks of trial and error and Penny would talk like a socially acceptable human being.

Weiss' smile turned calm. "I understand your concern, Ruby. I have them myself. But I'm the one who created Penny. I'm going to take responsibility for her. Once she has enough social experience I'm even going to ensure her schooling, and she is also well aware she is an artificial lifeform, so she won't be alarmed if any of her robotic parts are accidentally exposed."

It was all logical and reasonable. As much as Ruby hated to admit it, she was the one who was acting crazy. Weiss was acting like she had everything under control. Then again, Weiss even made sure she was drunk in the most calculated manner possible. Everything was a carefully researched decision on Weiss' part, including how much of the _real_ her that even her friends got to see.

Ruby had seen through Weiss right away immediately after their first meeting. Weiss seemed to appreciate that, in some small way. It made Ruby into an odd confidant of sorts whenever the two were together. Though right now, Ruby was the one doing the confiding and Weiss the reassuring.

"I know you're from a time when God-fearing was in vogue," Weiss said. "I am not going to do anything malicious with Penny. You have my word on that."

"Why would Ironwood want lifelike robotic soldiers anyway?" Ruby asked.

"Let me worry about that detail, and about Penny. Now let's go out and be nice to her. You made her a little uncomfortable with that death stare you gave her."

"Oh?" Ruby felt her face heat up.

"You basically looked at her like she was the devil incarnate, Ruby."

Ruby remembered that after the first few moments, Penny had never looked into her eyes. She had looked away, either to her left or towards Pyrrha. Ruby immediately felt a sense of guilt wash over her, but at the same time . . . was Penny's existence truly a good thing?

"I apologize," Ruby said.

"Accepted," Weiss said. She walked up next to Ruby then, and put her hand on the door handle.

"I have this under control. She'll be a good companion," Weiss said. "She's truly a sweet young girl."

"How do you act around her?" Ruby asked.

"Hm?" Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"Do you talk to her like you're doing now or do you do that forced cheerful act?"

Weiss looked away. "Most people come to me expecting my father, so I give them my father. Penny has never asked or expected me to be my father."

She looked up, giving Ruby a knowing look. "I can just be me around her, just like with you."

Weiss opened the door then and walked outside, and Ruby was left alone in the room.

_Yeah, but . . . what does she truly think of the real you?_

Ruby and Weiss had the same traumatized eyes, due to being exposed to so much violence and death at young ages. Weiss's path through life wasn't much kinder than Ruby's. Weiss had killed people, including people who had been close to her yet chose to betray her. Ruby knew she could talk to Weiss about her experiences because she knew Weiss would understand, and it worked the other way around too.

But unlike Ruby, Weiss continued to keep up a charade of pretending to be someone else.

How would people feel if they saw the real Weiss Schnee?

Would they be so quick to invest in Schnee Industries and its products? Or . . .

_Maybe they see the real Weiss after a while and realize she has everything under control._

The door opened behind her. It took Ruby half a second to relax after initially being startled. It was Weiss' young secretary, Jarvis.

"Excuse me," he said in his fairly upper-class English accent, "But Ms. Schnee would like you to rejoin the insane asylum-er, the party, as soon as you are able. You apparently aren't done opening your gifts yet."

Ruby smiled. "All right. I'll be out in a minute."

"Thank you. And do try to smile more. That's not from Weiss, that's from me. It's your birthday, bloody enjoy it."

Jarvis closed the door then, leaving Ruby in the room alone again.

_I guess I should. I mean, I've been asleep for more birthdays than I can count-_

Her phone buzzed. Ruby fumbled with it and got it out, and she discovered several voicemails, all from the same place. She cross-checked the number, and that's when she turned pale.

Her eyes widened with horror as she began listening to the first of the voice mails.

_Oh no._

Suddenly, even though she was by her closest modern-day friends, Ruby felt very much alone.

_No. No. No. _

She opened the door, shoving her phone back into her pocket, tears beginning to spill from her eyes.

And then she ran right for the elevator.

And didn't look back.

* * *

The next chapter is the first break from Ruby's POV in a long, long time.


	9. Fangs Bared

I've been unjustifiably slow with updating this, I sincerely apologize. I have sixteen chapters written and I just keep forgetting to post them here. I will work to rectify this over the course of this month and the next.

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Fangs Bared**

_BEACON H.Q.  
Washington D.C.  
Present Day_

Director Ozpin was the youngest Director of the Bureau of Enforcement, Analysis, Counterterrorism, and Operations Network, not that it meant a whole lot, considering the organization had only been active since the early 1990's. BEACON was formed during a time of relative optimism, the end of the Cold War, and there was faith that the United Nations could effectively begin fulfilling its purpose without two major powers going at each other on the world stage, hamstringing the organization and its actions.

Whether BEACON could keep doing that due to events no one could have possibly imagined remained to be seen. BEACON was designed to be the United Nations' version of Interpol. Since the emergence of the White Fang terrorist organization, however, and the increasing presence of Dust in public knowledge, BEACON had transformed into something else. The Faunus and the general nature of Dust could be contained no longer. BEACON's job had become more of an anti-terrorist organization that was also designed to keep Dust as sealed away as possible. If Dust were to get out into the world at large . . . the hellbeasts seen during World War II were the tip of the iceberg.

Most things died. Others changed. Those born to Dust-infected people came out the same way. Children of Faunus were Faunus too. There was no stopping Dust anymore, but the hope was that it could still be contained. And that White Fang couldn't be allowed to kill more people or attempt to create more Faunus. That was a rather sadistic tactic the White Fang did, spread Dust around in hopes of creating more Faunus, which in turn would drive the new Faunus right into White Fang's arms.

And now, Ozpin was left watching as the US Secretary of Defense was in an argument with none other than the five ambassadors representing the permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Isabella "Ella" Woods was 45 years old, brown eyes, dark hair with a touch of gray. She seemed to be enjoying the argument. One thing that Ella had a reputation for was taking every fight in stride and with style, whether it was in the field or a political battle at home. She was the youngest Secretary Defense in US history, and the first who was female. She was demonstrating why.

Ozpin sat back and listened as Ella moved among the holograms.

"I promise you, we will have the new Helicarrier in the air very soon. We just want to make sure everything is in order first. The United States footed the bill for the majority of its construction, remember, and we're not going to completely own the property. We want to make sure it _works_."

"You're just holding out on us, Ms. Woods," growled the Russian ambassador. "We would have had the Helicarrier built long ago!"

"Yes, and it would've plummeted out of the sky on its first test," the French ambassador sniffed.

"Your insolence is not amusing," the Russian ambassador replied. "Do I have to remind you all that this carrier is in the _world's_ interest, not in individual countries?"

"The moment it was put on the United States to pay for this thing, it became an American interest," Woods replied.

The American ambassador looked stunned by the remark and was about to cut in when Woods held up her hand. The ambassador stuttered and then looked away, in clear embarrassment.

"And don't act so selfless, Mr. Yakov. You're the country bullying the Ukraine right now. There's reports of Dust supplies sneaking in from Russia to support the rebels. Do I have to go into detail on those reports for the rest of the audience?"

"_What _Dust supplies?" cried the British ambassador.

Ella smiled as she turned around to pace around the holograms again. She spotted Ozpin and gave him a knowing wink before returning to the conversation.

"So you should excuse BEACON and the United Nations in general for deciding to shift the responsibility to the United States. And once we know the Helicarrier II is ready for action, we will begin production on the other two models commissioned. Keep in mind that the United States still maintains its own defense budget as well. We have an F-35 program that has gone overbudget, I've had to fund the construction of new F-16Cs to compensate for the F-35 not being ready yet. This costs money, ladies and gentlemen. I am not about to sacrifice my nation's military to please the United Nations. We are not a one-world government."

"We are slowly heading that way, and your country has the most to lose," said the Chinese ambassador. "You shouldn't be surprised when we accuse your country of dragging your feet."

"My president begs to differ. Now, I have another meeting, so we will have to continue this another time."

Ella turned off the holograms then, and sighed. The door to the room unlocked then, and Ozpin looked at Ella, a lopsided smile on his face, and he raised his coffee cup to her. "That sounded like fun."

"You have _no_ idea. Please tell me you have good news about the Helicarrier," Ella said as she walked forward towards him.

This was going to be the troubling part.

Ruby Rose's words from a couple of days ago had continued to pursue him. Maybe the Helicarrier _was_ going too far. Maybe it wasn't. But now . . .

"I think it might be best to delay it another week," Ozpin said.

Ella raised an eyebrow. "Why such a short delay?"

"I want to look everything over one more time," Ozpin said. "It's probably nothing. But this is a gigantic undertaking, and while I think it could launch within a couple of days, I want to make sure everything is in order _personally_."

Ella nodded and smiled. "I'm going to eat a lot of grief from the United Nations and the President over this, you know."

Ella had been the champion of making another Helicarrier after the first one was damaged beyond repair in the Battle of New York. Ozpin owed Ella a lot, and their frequent meetings on this had created a sense of familiarity between them. There was also a sense that Ella wanted to take their relationship to another level, and while Ozpin was willing to oblige dating, he was reluctant to go much further, not until he completely vetted the woman several times over.

He was paranoid that way. And in others.

"I'd like to continue discussing this in private if you don't mind. Care for coffee and a pastry?" Ozpin asked.

Ella sighed. "Sure. As long as this makes it a date."

_Again with the date request. Then again, she is forty-five years old, unmarried, no kids._

Ella Woods' psychological profile seemed to suggest someone who wanted children _really badly_, but Ozpin wasn't sure how much stock to put in that. Especially as Ella didn't seem that broken up about the issue in real life. Unless she hid it really, really well.

"That's fine. We both could use a break from this building anyway." He downed what remained of his coffee. "My treat."

* * *

_Washington D.C. Streets  
Present Day_

"So, what seems to be the problem with the Helicarrier?" Ella asked as they sat inside Ozpin's specially-equipped Chevy Suburban. Ella had finished her meal a long time ago, and seemed to be chomping at the bit. Ozpin knew he couldn't put off the inevitable much longer.

"It is the same reason as why I only chose to produce one new carrier instead of the planned three," Ozpin said. "There is a lot going on with this new investment and if it does not work right, or if there's sabotage, a lot of people will die and the United States will have a wasted investment worth billions of dollars."

"You're worried about another hijacking," Ella says. She nodded her head and looked out towards the road. "I thought defenses were in place to prevent another Loki incident."

"Considering that Loki's apparently been masquerading as an ordinary human on Earth for decades if not centuries, and no one's caught him, I wouldn't put it past Loki to try again," Ozpin said. "This time in disguise as one of _us_."

"If you feel that is the right course of action, I won't stop you. It's sensible," Ella replied. "However, you're sticking your neck out for this and I will be doing the same for you. The President is marching in lockstep with his UN ambassador. They're impatient and they want their Helicarrier delivered already."

"They'll get it," Ozpin promised.

"The President is not happy as it is with my F-16 order," Ella replied. "He wants _fewer_ fighter planes, not _more_. He is starting to demand dramatic military spending cuts, and if he gets his way, the US military won't be able to afford much after the Helicarriers."

Ozpin didn't want to get too deeply involved with the politics of the situation. He knew Ella was in tough territory, trying to maintain a big intelligence apparatus but also supporting the world's strongest military. Ella's background was in the intelligence community, the military distrusted her, and Ella wanted to seem like she had their best interests at heart too.

"It is important enough to me to risk my job over this. I don't just answer to the US President, I answer to the Secretary-General as well," Ozpin said. He took a sip of his bold-roast coffee and sighed.

"I won't stop you, I just want to inform you of the risks." Ella gave him a concerned glance. "What brought this on, by the way?"

"Hm?" Ozpin grunted, pretending he didn't hear her.

"You don't get like this without a motivation. Who gave you a warning on this?" Ella asked.

Ozpin paused. He didn't want to say 'Ruby Rose'. Taking advice from a girl who biologically just turned twenty-one was, on paper, career suicide.

"Multiple reports," Ozpin said, which was the truth in a sense.

"You don't need to keep everything so close to the vest with me," Ella said, offering him a reassuring smile. "Was it Ruby Rose? I have it on authority she is a skeptic of rebuilding the Helicarrier."

Ozpin gave Ella a look. It did not surprise him that she had deduced this.

"I can't discount the advice of the woman who is known as 'Miss America' to the general populace," Ozpin finally said. "Especially as she is advocating caution over recklessness. She has seen more war than any of us, Ella."

Ella nodded. "World War II was a long time ago, however. War's changed. So has the technology."

_Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it._ That phrase, or paraphrases thereof, was repeated so much that it was a cliché at this point. But it was a cliché for a reason, it still held truth.

Ozpin started the car and pulled out from the parking space. "That's true. But the generalities have not. What Rose is advocating-"

The light had turned green, and they were pulling out into the intersection when it happened.

All of a sudden, a police car came barreling into the intersection and _crashed_ right into the driver's side door.

Ozpin was stunned for a moment, before he finally clawed himself free of his airbag. His side and left leg were killing him. He heard a computer voice calmly recite _"__Multiple fractures detected_."

"Are you all right?" It was Ella, sounding shaken up, but she didn't seem hurt.

"I need the painkiller. Now," Ozpin groaned.

Ella fumbled with the glovebox, but found the painkiller within moments and handed it to Ozpin. He injected the painkiller into his right arm and gasped from the pain of the injection, but it was fast-acting, and it dulled the pain within seconds. The downside was that it would burn itself out pretty quickly, but that didn't matter. He just needed to get out of here.

That is, if he _could_.

It turned out they were surrounded by several police cars now, without their lights flashing, and a dark van was pulling up besides Ozpin's driver's side door.

"What the hell are they _doing_?" Ella growled as she finally got the remnant of the airbag off of her.

_That's what I want to know._ Ozpin looked at the police walking up towards him, and that's when he heard the voice from the computer.

"_DC Metro Police dispatch shows no units in this area._"

Then he saw a telltale giveaway. One of the 'police officers' had a _tail_.

Faunus were not allowed to become police.

"White Fang," Ozpin hissed.

And they were about to pull the coup of the young century at this very moment, by assassinating the leader of the organization that opposed them the most.


	10. The Longest Five Minutes

**Chapter Ten: The Longest Five Minutes**

_Washington D.C. Streets  
Present Day_

The White Fang had brought something _else_ to the party, much to Ozpin's horror. It looked like a ram, and they were bringing right to Ella's side of the car. Clearly the intent was to smash the door down and snatch the occupants.

Though Ozpin doubted that they would stop at _snatching. _He had a feeling that the moment Ella and he were pulled out of the car, they'd receive bullets to the head.

However . . . they had made a big mistake going for Ella's side of the car first. "Ella, do you have any training in machine-guns?"

"_What_?" Ella shouted, just as the crew set up their ram outside.

"You heard me! Have you ever fired a machine-gun?"

"I spent ten years in the field, I've fired several of them! Why?"

"You're going to be firing one pretty shortly! I'll let you know when!"

Just then, the SUV shook violently as the ram _smashed _into the passenger-side door, nearly knocking it over on its side. Immediately, Ozpin heard a robotic voice say "_Door integrity at sixty-five percent_."

"Now?" Ella shouted.

"Not yet!" Ozpin said.

Ozpin heard glass cracking to his left. They were trying to shoot through his window now, to little success.

_I should be glad these Faunus aren't using Dust weapons. Then we'd really be in trouble. _

The car rocked again to the left, but there was just light enough to keep the SUV from flipping over. Ella was crying in both surprise and what sounded like pain.

"How about now?" Ella cried.

"_Door integrity at thirty-four percent. Recommend defensive-"_

"Negative on the defensive countermeasures! Ella, you're going to need to take one more hit! Can you do that?"

Ella looked over at Ozpin, looking quite nervous. "Y-Yes?"

"Well then you have to! Get ready!"

Just as Ozpin said that, the car rocked one more time, and barely settled back down when the computer said "_Door integrity at two percent._"

_Close enough. _"Deploy countermeasures now! Passenger side!"

Suddenly, much to Ella's surprise, a heavy machine-gun suddenly rose up in front of her seat.

"Cut them down!" Ozpin shouted.

Ella did. The sound of the SAW roaring to life was almost deafening, but he could still hear the cries of the surprised Faunus as they were getting mowed down. That meant that he could concentrate on-

Suddenly, the bulletproof glass shattered to his left. Ozpin turned to see a armor-piercing sniper rifle round laying in what was left of the glass for a split second before it fell away.

_Sniper just tried to blow my head off. _He couldn't waste anymore time.

Ozpin slammed the car into gear and rammed his way through the cars blocking him, and escaped onto the street.

"Out of ammo!" Ella shouted as the gun retracted.

"There's a pistol in the center console! Take it out!" Ozpin shouted.

He became aware of a wet, stinging sensation in his left arm. Ozpin looked around the elbow and saw some of the glass had embedded in his arm.

_Damn it._ The painkiller was enough that the pain wasn't _distracting_ but it wasn't going to anything to stop the bleeding. He needed to find a place to hide and treat his wounds before this could continue.

He weaved through traffic. "I need someone, _anyone,_ from BEACON right now! Patch me through!"

"_Communications array has been damaged._"

"We don't need satellite, just any radio can do! Do we have a radio?" Ella shouted.

"_Backup communications has also been damaged._"

"What's _not _damaged?" Ella growled in frustration.

_"__Air conditioning is at one-hundred percent."_

Ella gave Ozpin the evil eye. Ozpin looked away. "I programmed my A.I.s this way. Sorry."

"No, it's that your _air conditioning_ is bulletproof but nothing else is!"

"I'm going to have my technicians take a look at that. Clearly a design flaw."

Ella sighed and looked at her rearview mirror. "We got company coming behind us!"

Ozpin looked. He saw at least four or five police cars behind him, trying to weave through traffic just as he was. They were not going to give up that easily, that was for certain.

"We need to lose them and get off the grid," Ozpin said. "Or, if necessary, kill them all and _then_ get out of this mess. Do you understand, Ella?"

"Yes!" Ella said. "Now try to lose them already!"

"I'm trying!" But it was easier said than done. D.C. traffic was already clogging the lanes, and that meant getting through would be harder and harder unless he tried to drive on the sidewalk.

Ozpin dismissed the idea of driving on the sidewalk. He'd just hit innocent civilians that way. He couldn't do that. That would mean murdering people who had nothing to do with this. What made it right to kill those who had no stake in this, that their only fault was that they were in the way?

Suddenly, one of the police cars veered right into the sidewalk, charging right through the pedestrians.

_They have no conscience at all! Damn them! _"Ella, they're going to be coming up on your right! Get ready!"

He stepped on it, forcing his way through two cars. He needed just a few minutes, probably five, to find a way out of here and get off the grid. Problem is, could they hold out that long?

_If we don't, we're both dead._

Ozpin hit the gas.

* * *

Jaune Arc sighed. He felt directionless, driving through D.C. this time of day. It did not help at all that there was apparently some crazy car chase going on in the downtown, causing massive traffic jams and forcing him to take this long detour around, trying to at least stay somewhat close to his original route. But considering the chaos he was hearing on the radio, there was no telling how far he was going to have to go out of his way.

He wondered how he was going to explain to his parents that he had no idea what to do when he finally finished college, too. They hadn't wanted him to become a soldier, and after the hell he had went through in Afghanistan, their worries about him turned out to be justified. So what was he going to do with his life now, after he was done with class? Just drive around wondering what to do?

Or . . .

_Hey, who's that?_

Jaune looked to his right, and saw a _highly_ familiar woman running down the sidewalk. In fact, she looked almost exactly like . . .

_Is that Ruby Rose?_

Immediately, Jaune swerved to the right and pulled over, ordering his passenger side window to roll down while he did that.

Just as he finished, he saw her. Yeah, that was Ruby, running like the devil himself was after her. Especially judging by the expression on her face.

"Hey, Ruby!" he shouted.

Ruby nearly charged right past the car, but instead slid to a stop right after passing the passenger door. She stepped back and peered in, and her wide eyes changed from worry to surprise upon seeing Jaune. "Jaune?"

_That is her!_ But Jaune could see that there was no joy in seeing Ruby again. She looked frightened, scared, in a way he had never seen her before. Ruby had seemed almost unflappable last week, after that run. This was not that Ruby. In fact, Ruby almost looked like a young girl with the fear and worry etched all over her face.

"Yeah, it's Jaune. Ruby, what's-"

Before he could finish, Ruby ran right to the door. "Please, I'm so, so sorry to ask this of you, but . . . but you need to take me to the hospital, right now!"

"What?" Jaune asked.

"Jaune, I need to get to the hospital _right now! _I just got back here from the airport, and I can't run down a taxi to save my life! Please, you need to help me!"

_She just got back from the airport? But I'm like a zillion . . ._

It hit him that there should be a lot of other things he should be worrying about right now. Anyway, this was _Ruby Rose_. The super-soldier. Of course she could sprint to the other side of the city from the airport. She was _modified_ to be that way.

He unlocked the door. "Come in, hurry. I'll get you there."

"Thank you!" Ruby opened the door and flopped inside, and shut the door behind her. "Drive! Drive right now, Jaune!"

The urgency in her voice brought back memories of his sergeant yelling at him in basic training. "Y-Yes, ma'am!"

Jaune put the car in drive and pulled out onto the street. "U-Uh, where are we going, again? What's going on?"

"Walter Reed! Please, Jaune, just . . . just drive! I have to make it there! I have to!"

_Someone's dying._ The thought passed through Jaune's head for a moment, and then everything clicked.

_Must be someone Ruby knows from the war! _If one thing was sure, he was not going to be late getting Ruby to this person, whoever he was.

"I'll get you there! Just hang on!" Jaune hit the accelerator and began weaving through traffic.

_I just hope those cops are too busy chasing that perp to catch me speeding._

* * *

Ozpin was far busier than he had ever imagined himself being on what was supposed to be a fairly sleepy afternoon. He was currently struggling for his life with a Faunus trying to grab him and pull him out of the car, or at least disrupt his driving enough to cause an accident. Making matters worse, his left arm was growing numb, likely from the bloodloss.

This had become the longest five minutes of his life. He had thought he had lived through those moments before, but no. This was _the_ one.

_I have to hold on until they're all dead or we escape. I don't have any choice!_

Desperately, he reached for his coffee cup, and then splashed the hot coffee on the enemy's face. Although he cried out, he wasn't letting go, so Ozpin took his cup and activated its weapon mode.

The cup _extended_ like it had turned into a lance or pole, right through the enemy's chest. He gagged, coughing blood on Ozpin's weapon and on Ozpin's clothes. However, the Faunus immediately seized both of his hands on the weapon, and Ozpin was no longer strong enough to outmuscle the Faunus for the weapon.

So Ozpin let go and the Faunus fell out of the car, taking the lance/coffee cup hybrid with him.

_I was proud of that thing. My personal invention for Oobleck and I never got to give it to him. Damn. _

His left arm was growing slack. His right arm had to do everything now. He forced himself to continue driving through the traffic, but his motion sensors showed he was going to get caught by another 'officer' trying to pursue him on foot, with another assault rifle to boot!

"Last mag!" Ella shouted from his right.

"Save it! Don't waste it taking any more shots!" Ozpin yelled. "Wait until you have a confirmed kill shot!"

"Got it!" Ella said.

Ozpin finally got himself free of the traffic just as the closest 'officer' managed to run up to his car. Ozpin briefly let go of the wheel to punch the man, but it was only enough to disrupt the man's attack, not let go entirely.

The male Faunus' bloody, almost reptilian face looked up at Ozpin, and then he looked _past_ Ozpin, in absolute horror. "Oh _shit_."

Out of the corner of Ozpin's right eye, he saw Ella aiming her pistol right at the Faunus' head.

She fired and the Faunus' head jerked back and he fell out of the view, presumably slamming onto the road.

"Like that?" Ella asked.

"Yeah," Ozpin hissed. Damn, his left arm was killing him now. "Like that."

Ella's steely face transformed into a worried, almost afraid one. "You're wounded!"

"That doesn't matter! I need a course plotted to get us off the grid! We can't afford to be caught by anyone else!"

"_Plotting trajectory_," the computer replied.

"Want me to drive?" Ella asked.

Ozpin knew Ella's heat-of-the-moment empathy was overruling her common sense. This is what happened when you had people dating in combat together. They didn't think entirely straight.

"No time to change drivers. I can hold on until we get out to safety. Once we do, you're going to need to be a medic, understand?" Ozpin said.

"Yes," Ella said.

_"__Bogey in the center of the road,_" the computer suddenly said.

"What?" Ozpin looked back out into the center of the road, and all of a sudden, he saw a lone figure standing in the middle of it, a mask covering his, or _her_, face and eyes.

Short blonde hair. A left arm that looked almost metallic. Dark clothing . . .

Suddenly, Ozpin's mind flashed back to several briefings he had had over the years, ever since he had joined BEACON in the first place. He had heard of this person before. Was supposed to be a legend, a myth, a story of hearsay that could never be validated but somehow had been responsible for more deaths than anyone could count.

And the profile of that rumored person was standing in the middle of the road, directly in front of him and his speeding SUV.

His eyes widened as they got closer.

_Oh my God. Is that . . .?_

* * *

Jaune had barely parked the car before Ruby charged her way out, running right towards the hospital as fast as she could, which was enough for people to scatter out of her way like dandelion seeds.

Jaune locked his car and got out and took off after her, but other than the crowd having parted like the proverbial sea, there was no sign of Ruby.

_Only thing I can do is follow the trail she plowed for me._

Ruby hadn't said a word to him the entire trip here, other than yelling at him to step on it and to keep driving. She was lost in her own world, lost in the past, lost somewhere that wasn't entirely on this plane of existence. Jaune could only wonder what was going through her head, and who was in such grave danger that Ruby would put him ahead of every other thought she could possibly have.

He made it to the desk just to see Ruby suddenly take off from it, charging off in some random direction. Jaune thought about chasing Ruby, but he knew he would just lose her and become lost himself, never able to track her down.

So he walked up to the receptionist himself. "Excuse me, but what room is she heading to? I need to be there too."

The receptionist told him. And then Jaune ran off through the hospital too, trying to use the room numbers as a guide while he tried to navigate this place.

_I have to get there too. I need to know what's going on. And if the worst is happening . . . I have to be there for Ruby too. I can't just leave her on her own. _

It was such a silly thought, being worried for the super-soldier. But Jaune couldn't help it. In his mind, he was reliving the deaths of his friends, friends he couldn't make it to in time, friends who he never got to reach until they had already passed on, their eyes cold, dead, and unseeing.

If there was one person he could not afford to be too late for, it was Ruby Rose. And that was something the whole country would agree with. Who would not move heaven and earth for the sake of Miss America?

He navigated the staircases and hallways until he saw Ruby. She was standing at the end of one hallway near the right corner of the building, speaking to the nurse. Every bit of Ruby's body language seemed to _scream_ 'Just let me in there already', but despite her nervous twitching and fidgeting, she stayed there, letting the nurse finish.

Seeing as he finally caught up, Jaune began to walk down the hallway towards them. It occurred to him that his chest was on fire. He must have ran or sprinted the entire way here himself. One thing was for sure . . . he was _not_ Ruby, and he couldn't keep running like that without feeling the effects. He wasn't sure if Ruby wasn't feeling them either. She had been running for so long that he was amazed she hadn't collapsed . . . or maybe she was just so focused that nothing would be enough to make her fall.

He walked down the hallway, feeling the beads of sweat form on his forehead, gasping softly for air. Just when he thought he was going to make it, Ruby ran past the nurse into the room.

Jaune made it to the entrance in time for his arm to be grabbed by the nurse. "You with her?"

"I . . . uh, I drove her here," Jaune managed through his deep breaths.

"It's best you give her some space. That's the last person she knows from the war on that bed over there."

"You're kidding." Jaune peered into the room, to see Ruby slowly, carefully, walk around the bed towards the bed's right-hand side, clearly looking for a hand to hold.

Her eyes weren't anywhere but on the elderly man with a breathing mask on in the center of the bed. The entire world could blow up around her and she would never notice.

"There's not many of them left, I'm afraid," the nurse said. "And he didn't exactly turn out to be an ideal family man. His ex-wife and extended family have been notified, but none of them have shown . . . yet."

"No way." This time Jaune kept his voice done to a hush. _So this guy was going to die alone unless Ruby got here? No wonder she was trying so hard!_

In her silver eyes, Jaune saw something he had only seen a few times in his life, and it was never directed at him. It was a softness, a tenderness, a sense that Ruby would give up her own life for the sake of the person she was staring at.

Eyes of complete, unconditional love.

He had remembered thinking in Afghanistan that if he was gonna go, he didn't want to do it alone on the sands. He needed to be surrounded by his fellow soldiers. Dying alone was unfathomable. That was the worst fate imaginable, beyond getting captured by the enemy. The thought of dying somewhere unfamiliar, where no one was around to be there to even hold your hand or say some final words to you before you were gone . . .

There was no outside world to Ruby right now. Even if he yelled at her, Ruby would not look towards him. Jaune could see that, just by the way she seemed lost in her own world, the world that she and the elderly, dying man seemed to be in at this moment. Jaune could sense, just by watching, that this was a world that he had no place in, and it was a world that soon would be inhabited only by Ruby herself. She was going to be the last surviving World War II veteran by default.

"Alright," he said softly. "Alright, I'll stay right here."

"Thank you," the nurse said, and then she departed.

_This is probably . . . probably the only way someone will be able to kill Ruby anyway. I have to stay here in case someone tries something . . . or what._

However, he could not help but watch as Ruby leaned over and took the old man's hand in her own, and brought his shriveled, bony hand so it could feel her face.

Her lips forced out quiet words, words that somehow traveled all the way to where Jaune was standing. And then he knew why she was here.

"Hi, James. How are you? I'm here."

Her lips trembled. Tears were already spilling from her eyes as she forced a smile on her face, tears streaming down to her hands and the old man's.

"I'm here."

* * *

I will always torment your darlings.

Next chapter is dedicated to Monty Oum himself.


	11. The Builder

This is the chapter dedicated to Monty Oum. We all love you, Monty.

I keep forgetting to post updates to here. I sincerely apologize.

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: The Builder**

_Somewhere in England  
June 4,1945  
Two days before Operation Overlord_

It figured that it would be right before the drop that she would have any clue what's going on.

They would be dropping before everyone else. Two hours before, actually. There were things that needed to be taken care of before the main drop force arrived. And it fell to Yang and Ruby to get it done.

Ruby sat alone under an old, giant tree, trying to read in the shade. She tried not to think about the upcoming mission too much. Or that Yang and Ruby would be a small part of something so much bigger than them, bigger than even Dust itself. The only thing that would make this even worse was if Cinder Fall was reported to be in France, but as far as anyone knew Cinder wasn't anywhere near Normandy. She was in Pas de Calias, where the Allies had been deceiving the Germans into thinking it was the actual landing site.

But who knew? Maybe she was in Normandy somewhere.

It had been almost a year since they had had their encounter, but Ruby was deathly afraid of fighting Cinder again. The scary part was that she had a feeling she would not get through this war without another showdown. She could just sense it.

"Hello."

Ruby looked up from her book towards the source of the voice. "James."

The golden boy smiled at her. "I figured you'd be off here by your lonesome."

Ruby looked away, feeling her face heat up. "Shaddup. You know I don't like crowds."

Unlike in battle, Ruby and Yang wore women's dress uniforms when in the rear. It prevented a lot of unnecessary questions from being asked, but Ruby found the skirts and pantyhose uncomfortable in comparison to the combat uniform. But the worst part was wearing these uniforms in front of the men serving alongside them. Ruby felt embarrassed, weak, like a little girl.

Yang, on the other hand, tended to flaunt her figure in the dress uniform. Ruby felt invisible compared to her big sister, due to most of the men choosing a futile attempt to pursue Yang over Ruby. Sometimes Ruby wondered if it was Yang's intention, considering Yang never got close to any of her many suitors. It was yet another way for Yang to protect Ruby.

James Barnes sat down alongside her in the shade. "There'll be nothing but crowds tomorrow, or the day after if they push the invasion to the 6th like I've heard."

"To the 6th? Not tonight?" Ruby asked.

"I've been hearing they'll push it back because the weather isn't cooperating," James replied. "The main paratrooper force is due around midnight which means we're due to land after ten o'clock on the 5th if that happens."

Ruby smiled at the thought of having an extra day in Britain. "Well, this gives me time to finish my book then. I was trying to rush it because I thought they were gonna call us to the planes any minute."

Ruby closed the book. "I've grown to like Britain. It's a hell of a lot better than Burma, that's for sure."

"You ever find out why they sent you there?" James asked.

"No. My guess is that Colonel Wingate or someone close to him found out about Yang and I and threatened to go public unless they got to use us for the Chindits. Considering Yang and I got extracted shortly after saving Wingate's life, I think the higher-ups told Wingate that Yang and I had made things even so they got us out."

"But how would a colonel in Burma find out about something top-secret like you?" James asked.

Ruby shrugged. "I have _no_ idea, to be honest. I just haven't come up with anything better."

It was hard to believe she had just been _fifteen _years old when Operation Torch kicked into gear. Now she was seventeen. She would turn eighteen in January, but by then the war could possibly be over. She could wind up fighting the entire war before she could be legally enlisted.

"I wonder if sometimes the brass figure one of these missions I won't come back," Ruby finally said.

"My job is to make sure you come back," James replied.

Ruby looked over at James to find his eyes staring into hers. She looked away, feeling embarrassed for some reason. James had a tendency to do that to her. "Thanks."

"You and Yang are the most valuable soldiers in the military. Think about it. The only two women in any combat role at all in the entire military are you and Yang, and you are the best. That says a lot about you."

"No, that says a lot about the Dust that infected the both of us," Ruby said. "Flattery will get you nowhere, James."

James just laughed. "Now you sound like your sister."

"Ah, you tried asking her out finally?" Ruby asked.

"Nah. Just watched others try. And fail."

It was odd, actually, how James seemed to be the only Army soldier who never attempted to pursue Yang. Not even once. A lot of the growing commando unit that was _slowly_ coming together had hit on Yang. Many officers and soldiers from other divisions had asked Yang out. Even a German SS POW had the guts to ask Yang out in butchered English, apparently because Yang's blonde hair evoked some Aryan ideal. Yang's (proper, in Ruby's eyes) reaction to the SS soldier was a solid punch to the face.

But not James. Why? Was he just smart enough to realize he had no chance with Yang either?

"I got something to tell you," James said softly. "I . . . I lied about my age in order to enlist."

"You _what_?" Ruby asked, her eyes widening. She had never expected to hear that from James at all. She had known James had looked _young_ for a soldier, but . . .

"I was seventeen when I volunteered," James said. "Early 1942. I was mad as hell after Pearl Harbor and I wanted to get some revenge on the Japs. I didn't realize what I was getting into . . . or the Army might send me somewhere that _wasn't _the Pacific. Turns out they'd rather have me fight the Nazis."

He chuckled. "I didn't think that one through, did I?"

Ruby couldn't help but smile. "It's all right. You're still alive. That's what matters."

"My mom and dad are probably pissed as hell at me right now. I ran away from home to enlist," James said. "I wonder sometimes if I'll have a home when I come back."

"You will. You'll have one," Ruby replied.

She had the odd feeling that James had shuffled a little closer. Her face felt hot again. Why was she feeling this way, just because he was getting-

That's when it hit her.

_Christ._

Her body began to shake.

Never, in her wildest dreams, did she expect any man to pursue _her_. She was the girl with the less-glamorous hair, shorter in just about every way, younger, _too_ young, really . . . why would any man pick _her_? Why not try to be the one who could impress Yang? Yang was the beautiful one, the buxom one, the older one . . .

She looked over at James, and suddenly felt her eyes meeting his.

"You want a home with me," she whispered softly.

It was James' turn to blush. "That far . . . already?"

"Um . . . I don't know . . . I just . . . maybe, realized that . . . that-that you're asking me out and . . . I have no idea how to handle this."

They stared at each other for a moment. James spoke first. "Well, I think . . . I think . . ."

_Quick, Ruby, think! What would Yang do? What would Yang do if she finally found a man she liked?_

She knew exactly what Yang would do.

She suddenly reached out and cupped James' face in her hands and pulled him close, close enough to kiss him right on the lips.

It was a weird kiss, a passionate kiss, a highly awkward kiss, that would up being too forceful. James quickly fell on top of Ruby and cause them both to lie on the grass half-next to each other, half-tangled.

"That . . . didn't end the way I thought it would," Ruby finally said after a moment.

"Neither did I," James said.

They both turned to look at each other. The whole absurdity of the situation finally seemed to hit the both of them at the same time and they just started _laughing_. They laughed and then hugged each other for real and kissed again, this time making sure that nothing out of the ordinary would occur.

Ruby almost felt like crying, crying from the joy she was feeling. This young man, a man who was younger than even she had thought, had chosen _her_. He wanted a relationship with _her_.

"I was worried when you were sent off to Burma," James said as they held each other underneath the tree. "I was wondering . . . wondering if you were going to come back. They wouldn't let me come with you, and I . . . I wanted to be there. Like in Sicily, or Italy."

"I was wondering if you were still alive too," Ruby replied softly.

Just as Ruby thought they were going to kiss again, she heard an extremely unexpected voice. "Yoo-hoo! Lovebirds!"

Ruby's heart stopped for a second. _Oh no._

She spun and saw Yang in the sun, cheerfully waving at them. "Getting busy before the big drop?"

"Uh . . ." Ruby suddenly realized she had lost the ability to talk. Judging by his own silence, so had James.

"Well, I don't got a problem with that as long as your panties don't come off. As for you, though, James?"

Yang turned to face him, and despite her smile, despite the sweet way she was talking, every single fiber of her being seemed to invoke the fear of God himself into the air. "Get Ruby pregnant or cheat on her and your head shall become one with your ass. Clear?"

"Y-Y-Y-Yes," James mumbled.

"Good!" Yang said in an almost-singsong fashion. "You can carry on with your frolicking now. Ta!"

Yang seemed to almost skip away, leaving both Ruby and James to stare after her. "Your sister is terrifying," James finally said.

"She is. But that's okay." Ruby reached out and held James' hand. "I think everything will be fine from now on."

She smiled. All of a sudden, there was hope for after the war, hope for something great. And he was right there, right in front of her . . .

* * *

_Walter Reed Army Medical Center  
Washington D.C.  
Present Day_

He was right there, right in front of her, and it was going to be for the last time.

He couldn't talk. Not through the oxygen mask that had been placed over his face. Ruby could only hear his shallow breaths, and only the warmth and the feeble grip of his right hand showed he was still responsive.

"I'm here," Ruby said, as she lowered herself enough so James' hand could feel her face. "I'm here, James. I'm right here."

He continued to breathe.

"You've . . . you've done . . . so many incredible things, James. I . . . I'm just amazed at what you've . . . you've accomplished. I mean . . . the FBI, the CIA, the Air Force, the NSA . . . they all _owe_something to you. You built them, or helped build them, into something bigger, greater. And . . . and when you weren't building organizations to protect us, you built houses. I . . . I'm just . . ."

She felt the tears threatening to spill from her eyes but she could not let them choke her voice. Not when James was still listening. She needed to stay as calm as possible. She could not fall apart. Not right now. Now when he was still here.

"You're . . . you're a _builder_, James. That's what you did. You built . . . things. Whenever they needed something built, they went to you. Even in the 90's, when they wanted BEACON to be made . . . it was fifty years after the war and they still went to you because _you're just that good at building things_. You made BEACON, James . . . you made the best hope we have of ever getting world peace, or world security. The reason why we're as safe as we are . . . is because of _you_."

She looked over into his blue eyes, and his eyes were meeting hers. Ruby forced a smile to cross her face. It was just like the battles in the war, holding the hands of people she cared about, trying to give them some kind of solace before they finally succumbed. It was just like that, except in a hospital and now some forsaken field or forest or building.

Always, always holding the hands of the dying, telling them they would not be forgotten. She still could recall their names, their faces. Some were crying for their mothers, others for girlfriends, others for God and Jesus, and she had held their hands while they cried. Those poor men, desperately alert in one final throe, their adrenaline rush at its peak as their bodies tried to save themselves . . .

"You've made so much, and it all stands so strong. Because of you, because you brought in the right people," Ruby said. "Because you wanted to make something that would last. Nobody, and I mean _nobody_, is ever going to forget what you did for all of these years, working so damn hard, making sure the United States would always be strong and safe, and that the world would be just as strong and safe as the United States. And . . . and . . ."

It was going to happen. She could feel it. Hear it. The breaths were getting shorter and softer, but the eyes were even wider. Hyper-sensory, which was what always happened before . . .

Time was almost up. "And I'm going to keep it all strong, James. I'm going to make sure it all stands strong, for the rest of my life. BEACON, the military, the CIA, all of it. It's all gonna stay. Stay here, stay strong. Because . . . b-because I . . ."

She reached her left hand across and stroked his sweaty forehead. "Because it's all for you. I love you. I'll always love you, James."

She whispered the words repeatedly, over and over. "I'll always love you. I'll always love you."

She whispered the words until he stopped moving, until his chest stopped rising, until she finally let go of his hand and gently closed his eyes.

She looked over him, the realization that the final person she knew from the war was gone, leaving her all alone, gradually hitting her. Everyone else had died before she had been fished out of the Arctic. James was the only one left. The only one, who had any idea . . .

The only one who had loved her, the way she had felt she'd never be because she was in her sister's shadow.

And he was gone.

Gone forever.

Gone until . . . until she finally made it to heaven herself.

So many people questioned whether there was a heaven now. Ruby could not bring herself to question it. The thought that James would just go . . . go to _nothingness_, that all of her friends and comrades and Yang and everyone who remotely was a part of her life, would just become _nothing_ . . .

Finally, the tears spilled from her eyes, dripping down her cheeks, as she stared at James for the last time. Her lips trembled as she struggled to say the final words.

"I . . . I'll always love you. Goodbye, James."

She slowly bent down and kissed him on his forehead, which was already starting to turn cold.

And then she sat.

She sat for a long time.

***  
Jaune had lost track of time, but when he had heard Ruby begin whispering to the old war veteran, Jaune had opted to get out of earshot altogether. He stood alone in the hallway, watching nurses and patients walk by, living their own lives, while he stood still, watching the time go by.

He was sure that no one would blame him if he chose to walk away. He had done what he needed to do. He had gotten Ruby here on time to say goodbye. He could still remember a soldier being killed instantly over there . . . one minute he had been there, the second, he was not. No goodbyes could be said. No one could be there for the final seconds because for those final seconds, he had been upright still, not aware of what was going to happen.

He could not leave anyone behind. No one was left behind. That was the mantra of the military. They may have had their Army services separated by over seven decades, but both Ruby and Jaune still had that connecting them. You didn't leave your friends behind, you did not abandon your fellow soldier in their time of need. It didn't matter what else was going on. You don't leave. Ever.

But as the day turned into night, as a couple of nurses filed in, and then walked out without a word, Jaune couldn't help but wonder . . . why no one else was coming.

Didn't the man have an ex-wife? Children? Grandchildren? Why were none of them here? Why was Ruby the only one here? Why was this man going to die all alone unless Ruby could make it?

Something just wasn't fair, and Jaune couldn't figure why that was.

Then he heard footsteps to his right.

Jaune turned, and saw Ruby, her face red and puffy, staring into space, staring down the hallway.

"Ruby," he said after a moment.

Ruby turned towards him, and their eyes met.

Her eyes watered and her mouth opened, just a little, forming a soft, wordless moan.

Jaune was barely able to get his arms open enough before Ruby rushed towards him, grabbing his jacket and shirt, burying her face in his chest.

She wailed and sobbed, unleashing all of the pain and sorrow she had been holding in the entire time in that room. It was all wordless. But words weren't necessary. Jaune could understand it all, without any language being spoken.

He slowly, carefully, wrapped his arms around her shuddering body as she continued to cry and scream.

_She loved him._ He could only wonder what kind of promises had been made, what hopes and dreams the two had shared between them. Whatever connection had been made, it was so deep that the two could not be the same without the other.

"I'm sorry," Jaune said. It was pathetic, a total understatement. It almost meant nothing. But what else could he say? What could he really say, in this situation, clutching this woman lost to time for over seventy years, a woman who had fought through an entire world war and yet vanished from the world before she saw victory?

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Still didn't seem good enough. Not for the cherished war heroine known as Miss America. But it was all he could do. All he could think of saying.

Words just weren't good enough.

Sometimes . . . there was nothing that needed to be said at all.

Especially with love . . .

And farewells.

* * *

I can't help but feel that somehow I fell short of what I wanted to convey and do. Nevertheless, I hope the chapter proved worthy to your eyes . . . and would prove worthy to Monty's.

Until next time. Which will be much sooner, I hope.


	12. The Destroyer

A major goal of this fic is basically tell a condensed version of The First Avenger alongside the adaptation of The Winter Soldier, which is why there are so many WWII flashbacks. It will all tie together at the end, I promise.

I'm also accelerating updates to catch up to the forum where I've been posting this story. Expect to see more chapters rapidly pop up over the next week.

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: The Destroyer**  
_  
Holland  
September 17th, 1944  
Operation Market Garden_

The attack on the little hamlet had hit a little snag.

"Panzer!" Yang shouted.

They hid behind an embankment on the edge of town, as the Panzer IV tank let loose with a shell. The shell exploded in the middle of the dirt road, not injuring any of the squad, but it was too close for comfort, and Ruby doubted that the tank would miss again.

Gabriel Jones, the black private, was shaking so much even his bazooka was bobbing up and down. "Dammit, that was too close."

This was not the first time Ruby had dealt with a Panzer IV. It took a bit of work, but they were beatable. Still, though, this battle in the hamlet itself was unexpected. No one had anticipated having to destroy one of the reported tanks inside the village.

She did not hesitate. She took off from the embankment, aiming Crescent Rose right at the tank, specifically the treads.

She fired, and then continued to run. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw dust and metal fly from the tank, and she knew she had knocked the right tread off of the Panzer.

Crescent Rose wasn't strong enough to destroy a tank in one shot. It was good at knocking treads out, though. Immobilizing a tank left it a sitting duck for an anti-tank squad or Yang to finish off. It at least gave the team more options in this battle, due to the tank now being stuck.

Ruby ran up to one of the little houses and plastered herself to the wall, making sure no German soldiers or the tank could get a bead on her. Dum Dum Dugan was already at this position, and he grinned at her. "Wahoo! Seeing you pull that kind of stunt never gets old, little lady!"

Ruby switched her weapon to her standard M1. "That wasted a shot, though. We were hoping I wouldn't have to do that."

"Better you use it now instead of ten men getting blown to hell."

"Agreed."

She leaned from the right, and quickly ducked back. The assault was on, and Lieutenant North's men were beginning to flood the hamlet. There were bullets everywhere, and Ruby knew her orders. She had done enough, and she needed to hang back so she could survive to finish the rest of the mission. Hearing the tank explode from one of Jones' bazooka shells striking it told her everything she needed to know.

She leaned out again, and saw a German soldier aiming a rifle out a window across the street, aiming down at North's men. Ruby aimed and fired two shots, and they both struck the German soldier. He fell out the window and plummeted to the ground, landing in a bush.

_That will at least make the way through easier. _

As the gunfire up ahead began to grow more distant, Ruby saw Jones move up with his bazooka. Ruby gave Jones the thumbs-up, and Jones saw that, and managed to give her a brief nod before he continued moving on up ahead. He was a good soldier. Hargrove always found Yang and Ruby good soldiers. Ruby wondered why she kept doubting the men Hargrove recruited.

She looked at Dugan. "I'm following the main unit up the center. You with me?"

"Damn straight. I'm right behind you."

Ruby sprinted out of her position then, following Jones and the others through the center of the hamlet, and she followed a couple of the soldiers into one of the houses. They had already gotten a German soldier on his knees, his hands raised upon his head, and a panicked elderly couple who were trying to stay out of the way.

Ignoring the sight, Ruby ran upstairs. There could be a vantage point to use for finishing off the enemy. They could not escape and warn the Germans in Wijchen what was going on. Then all that would happen is Yang and Ruby walking into a trap.

She ran into a bedroom and looked out the window, and immediately wished she hadn't.

While the foot infantry was indeed fleeing, a halftrack was speeding right into the hamlet, the machine-gun spraying lead everywhere indiscriminately.

_Christ!_ Ruby immediately brought out Crescent Rose and brought it into its full form. She was going to need to wipe it out and in a hurry before it crashed into the Americans' position and kill everyone.

The gunner spotted Ruby and opened fire on her. Ruby cried as she fell away from the window and backed away, bullets flying over her head.

"You all right?" Dugan shouted as he ran into the room.

"Halftrack!" Ruby shouted as she scrambled to her feet.

"I hear it!" Ruby followed Dugan into another section of the upstairs, and they got a bird's eye view of the halftrack speeding past the house, about to enter the hamlet's center.

"They're madmen!" Dugan shouted.

Ruby aimed Crescent Rose. She wasn't sure if she could stop the halftrack but she could at least wipe out the gunner. "They're not taking anyone with them, Dum Dum! Stand back!"

But before she could fire, she saw a familiar figure with long blonde hair leap from a rooftop and aim her fist right at the front of the halftrack. The shotgun-esque blast of Ember Celica rapidly followed, and all of sudden, the halftrack was flipping end over end, the men inside screaming in terror as the halftrack crashed on its side. The gunner, for his part, was sent flying out of the turret and he crashed into the side of a house, and he fell unceremoniously to the ground, not getting back up.

"I take that back," Dugan said. "Your sister's even crazier."

Despite Dugan's statement, Ruby felt a warmth in her heart as she saw Yang stand back up and dust off her hands. Without hesitating, she promptly turned towards Ruby and Dugan and gave them the thumbs' up and one of her winning smiles, before she ran back towards the retreating enemy.

"She might be, but she's my crazy sister, and I'll take her any day over the Nazis and their crazy people."

Still, Ruby thought, she was going to have to tell Yang to not do fancy stunts like that. She could have gotten herself killed along with the halftrack.

Hopefully it wouldn't turn into a habit . . .

* * *

_Washington D.C.  
Present Day_

"Who the hell is that?" Ella cried as she saw the figure standing in the road.

"I don't know!" Ozpin knew exactly what he was going to do. Trying to ram the person was not a smart idea, not when the SUV was barely holding together as it was. But she looked easy enough to dodge, so he swerved to the right, aiming to shoot right on by her.

But just as he was about to pass her, all of a sudden, she stepped right in front of him.

Ozpin knew exactly what was going to happen next, and all he could do was brace himself. He forced his aching arms to cross in front of his chest and just waited.

A vicious force struck the car. Then the world stopped making sense.

It occurred to Ozpin, vaguely, that he was flipping end over end in mid-air.

And then he came crashing down.

The SUV landed on its roof and slid across the road to the other side of the street, wiping out a parked car and smashing into a storefront, crushing thousands of dollars' worth of jewelry in the process.

Ozpin knew he wasn't dead; otherwise he wouldn't be in so much pain. He unbuckled his seat belt and fought his way past the airbag to get to the driver's side door and force it open. The horrible screeching noise of the door dragging across the concrete meant nothing compared to the gunfire he was now hearing in the background. It sounded like a war had started while his SUV crashed.

Suddenly, the door opened the rest of the way, and he saw Ella Woods, her face bloodied from a cut in her forehead, but otherwise seemingly unhurt, standing in front of him. She reached her hands and dragged Ozpin out of the car, and Ozpin clenched his mouth shut to keep from yelling as he felt his fractures and sprains make his nerves scream.

"I'm gonna get you out of here," Ella said. She slung Ozpin's arm over her shoulders. Ozpin could immediately tell that Ella wasn't going to be able to support him for long. She was strong, but she was not a soldier. They would only be able to hobble away a short distance before she'd tire out. At least, that's what logic would dictate.

Ozpin turned to his right as they made their way out of the destroyed storefront. What he saw was something he thought he would never see.

_I thought she was just a legend. And here she is and she's murdering my people!_

The woman moved seamlessly between two of the field officers trying to shoot her, and she kicked the African-American one in the knees, smashing the kneecap and making him buckle. She turned her attention to the other, white, field officer, ripping his assault rifle from his hands. She used the rifle on the African-American officer, shooting him in the head, before smashing the butt end of the rifle into the other officer's face.

She fit the profile. She even had the metallic left arm that the rumors said she had.

"The Summer Soldier," he said softly.

"I know," Ella said. "Hang on."

She helped him across the street. For some reason, the Summer Soldier did not attempt to shoot either of them. Perhaps she was too busy dealing with the BEACON agents trying to stop her.

It didn't surprise Ozpin that help had arrived even though he could not call for it. Everyone had to have noticed what was going on in downtown D.C. Including BEACON. But from the looks of it, the emergency tactical team that had been scrambled was woefully inadequate to stop the Summer Soldier.

Ella led her and Ozpin down an alley. "CIA thought her as a legend. Someone who may not actually exist."

"Well, obviously, she does," Ozpin replied. "And her target is me . . ."

"Or me," Ella said.

Ozpin nearly chuckled. Ella Woods _was_ the Secretary of Defense, after all. "That's right. You too. But I think it's more likely her target is me."

"Where do we go? Surely there's a safe house somewhere," Ella said.

"I don't know who I can trust at the moment," Ozpin said. "Obviously my location was leaked. It could have come from your department, or from mine, it doesn't matter."

The gunfire had ceased. Ozpin doubted that meant the Summer Soldier had gone down. Judging by the way she had been tearing through the tac team, it was likely the opposite. She soon would be resuming her mission, and it wouldn't take long for her to realize that Ozpin and Ella had gotten out of the SUV, if she didn't already know that.

He turned to Ella. "We have to get moving. She'll be on our tail at any moment. I have one place that might work."

Ella raised her eyebrow. "What?"

Ozpin smiled gravely. "There's only one person who I can say without a doubt that would not sell either of us out. We're going to her place."

Ella's eyes lit with realization. "You mean . . ."

Ozpin nodded. "Yes."

* * *

_Elsewhere in Washington D.C.  
Present Day_

"Thank you for the ride home," Ruby said softly as Jaune pulled up beside her apartment complex. "I know . . . I know I wasn't good company, but . . . it meant a lot to me."

"No problem. Anything to help. I'm sorry about . . . about James," Jaune replied.

Ruby turned towards Jaune. The young man meant well. There was nothing dishonest or self-serving about his intentions. Ruby sensed that Jaune legitimately cared about her, despite the two of them barely knowing each other. Ruby wanted to feel the same way, but after what had happened in the hospital, she wasn't sure whether she had anything left at the moment.

Right now, she just felt alone.  
_  
Maybe I'll pay Jaune a visit at the Veterans Affairs building after all. Just not right now._

She still wanted to cry. All of her friends, her comrades, who had survived the war were now gone. It wasn't going to be much longer before she would be the last surviving World War II veteran. The Greatest Generation was about to vanish. What was going to happen to her country? What was going to happen to her? With World War II about to fade from memory, how would she stop people from making the mistakes that were made prior to the war? She was already being regarded as a curious fossil by many in BEACON, and her personal views were out of step with many people her biological age.

But now, there was no one left for her to talk to. James had been a crucial rock for the two years since she had woken back up, but he had already started fading by the time she met with him again.

It was like the first eighteen years of her life were a dream, a story that could only exist in a novel.

"Are you all right?" Jaune asked.

Ruby forced a smile to her face. "I'll be fine. But . . . when will you be at the VA?"

"Day after tomorrow," Jaune said.

"I'll see you there. I think . . . I think I'm going to need to be there."

Jaune seemed shocked. "Okay. Sure."

"Thank you, Jaune. For everything. I'm sorry for putting you through so much, I hope I didn't interfere with your studies."

Jaune looked away, embarrassed. "You didn't. You're worth it, you know?"

That had been something Ruby hadn't heard in a long time. "Thank you."

She turned towards the apartment complex. "See you soon, Jaune."

"Bye."

It wasn't until Ruby opened the door to her apartment complex that she heard Jaune pull away. Even at the end, he had waited for her, just in case she changed her mind and wanted someone to be with her tonight.

_He probably wouldn't be a bad friend. I could use a friend right now. Not just Weiss or anyone from the group. Someone I can just be normal with. _

But what was 'normal'? How could someone like her ever possibly hope to be 'normal'? She was considered to be a _superhero_. Even back in the 1940's, her abilities were considered to be so beyond the realm of normal men, that the brass had thrown Yang and Ruby into combat, regardless of their age and gender.

Still, despite the dubious legal and moral implications, she never would have met James if everything that had happened . . . well, had never happened. Or Jaune, now that she thought about it.

But was it all worth it, in the end? What had she achieved other than winding up alone? What had she gained other than seventy-year-overdue pats on the back from a country she struggled to recognize sometimes?

_What am I doing? I'm being selfish. I never did anything for personal gain. I did it for . . . everyone._

But that seemed to be the reason why she had wound up here in her apartment complex, with . . . pretty much nothing.

She wandered the hallways for a bit, before she came up on her door. At least there were some comforts of the bygone era in there. Vinyl of all things had made a comeback so she didn't seem too out of place listening to vinyl instead of .mp3s.

She unlocked the door and stepped inside, and immediately smelled something that she should not smell upon entering her apartment door.

Blood. And an extreme overdose of air freshener in an effort to cover it up.

Ruby's body tensed, her muscles tightened in preparation for a quick, vicious strike.

_Someone is here_.

Drawing Argentum Rose would just tip the trespasser off. She had to do this unarmed. She carefully walked through the rooms, eyes wide and alert, the earliest formations of sweat on her brow.

_I don't know who just broke in, but there's no way you're getting the jump on me. _

But then, as she rounded a corner, she saw something she never thought she'd see in her tiny living room.

In her chair was Director Ozpin, clearly wounded and bleeding. Standing next to him was the Secretary of Defense herself, Ella Woods, also looking wounded but not as badly.

Ozpin smiled in grim recognition upon seeing Ruby. "Well. Took your time getting here."

Ruby relaxed, but only a little. Ozpin was the director of BEACON for a reason, but with his injuries, she could not rule out the possibility of a trap or that Ozpin was followed.

"I'm sorry. I had an emergency. What's the situation?"

Ozpin chuckled darkly. "You might have trouble believing it."

Ruby just shook her head. Who was Ozpin talking to?

"Try me."


	13. Gravedigger

Update acceleration continues.

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: Gravedigger**

_Ruby's Apartment, Washington D.C.  
Present Day_

Ozpin's little, humorless smile didn't fade. However, Ruby could tell by his voice, by his mannerisms, by the smell of blood, he was hurt. He was hurt really bad. "I suppose so, Ruby Rose. You have lived an extraordinary life after all."

Isabella Woods, the Secretary of Defense, spoke next. "It is a pleasure to meet you finally, Captain Rose, though I wish it was under different circumstances."

Ella was someone Ruby knew well from hearsay and from public appearances. Ruby wasn't fond of her. Something about her just seemed to rub her the wrong way, just like Weiss' little robot girl, Penny, had. However, now was not the time to find out why. "Same with you, Madam Secretary. Now, someone tell me what's going on here."

Ella stepped forward. "Director Ozpin has been badly wounded by-"

Ozpin raised his hand. "Ella, I can speak for myself. Let me."

Ella turned towards Ozpin in shock, but then stepped aside. "I understand. But please make it quick."

"I don't have time for much chit-chat, so don't worry about that," Ozpin said, his eyes forming a steely gaze at Ruby. Ruby could see the pain in his eyes, and it didn't take long for her to become aware that he was bleeding on her floor.

"You need medical assistance," Ruby said, forcing herself to remain calm. She eyed Ella Woods warily. She was the Secretary of Defense, but she had never met the older woman before. "I would prefer if we had this conversation in an ambulance."

_And away from this woman._

"I know," Ozpin replied. It was surprising how calm he was in spite of his injuries. It gave Ruby uncomfortable flashbacks to the war, of similar calmness from certain wounded soldiers. A lot of it was adrenaline, but an additional part seemed to be acceptance. Acceptance that they were injured, acceptance that they were dead men walking, acceptance that they only had a few words left and they had to say them before they passed on.

Her recollections of those soldiers dying in the fields of Normandy, the farms of Holland, the city of Arnhem, the forests of Bastogne . . .

Her sister managing to say a few final words before she slipped away from her forever . . .

The fact that Ozpin was reminding her of this put an ache in her heart, and a resolve to act. She would let Ozpin have his say . . . while she evacuated him.

"I'm sorry, sir, but even if you don't want an ambulance, I'm taking you to the hospital," Ruby said. "You can explain on the way."

"What?" Ella Woods asked, her eyes wide with shock. "You can't possibly suggest moving him in his current condition!"

"We have to," Ruby replied. "I'm looking at his wounds, Ms. Woods. You've done an adequate job cleaning and bandaging him, but adequate won't do it in this situation. He's lost too much blood, and your efforts have not successfully stopped his bleeding."

In that moment, Ruby did not care that Ella Woods was SecDef. She was going to save Ozpin, and if that meant going through a well-meaning but obtuse Cabinet Secretary, she would do that.

Ruby took a step forward. She saw Ella tense up, but Ozpin raised his hand before Ella could presumably pull a weapon.

"I suppose we'll have to do this Ruby's way," Ozpin said with a dark, but weak, _too_ weak, chuckle. "You can't stop her, Ella. Don't even try."

"I suppose I can't," Ella replied with a sigh.

Ella's posture became less defensive, but Ruby still eyed the woman warily. Something was clearly wrong here, and until she had answers from Director Ozpin, she wasn't going to trust anyone else.

"Do you even have a plan to get him to a hospital?" Ella asked.

"Yes," Ruby replied. "Clearly, 911's out of the question or you would have already called it. So I'm going to take us downstairs and I'm going to hotwire my neighbor's old Dodge Challenger and get us to the nearest hospital while one of you calls backup. Then we move on from there."

"You know how to steal a car?" Ella asked, aghast.

Ruby got right next to Ozpin, and Ruby made sure she was between Ozpin and Ella Woods now. She offered Ella a wry smile, as she thought back to some of her crazier adventures, mostly in Normandy and North Africa.

"Only when I need one, ma'am."

She let the words hang then as she helped Ozpin up and draped him over her shoulders. "All right. Get talking while we head downstairs, sir. What's the situation?"

"It's bad," Ozpin said. Ruby resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

Ozpin continued, however. "We barely got out of a Faunus ambush."

"Faunus?" Ruby asked, surprised. She had heard of them. They were Dust mutates, humans who had developed animalistic characteristics due to Dust exposure. She had yet to encounter one outside of the White Fang terrorist group; most of them had fled to Africa to be part of a new safe haven called Wakanda.

"I believe they were from White Fang," Ella said from behind them. "They're the only Faunus terrorists who have the resources _and_ the gall to make such an attempt on our lives."

"White Fang." Ruby bit her lip as she got closer to her door. "I understand."

"You do?" Ella asked.

"Yes," Ruby said. "It's simple. They're getting stronger, instead of weaker, despite all of the counteroffensives against them. That means we need to do something different, before something like this happens again."

"That's not all," Ozpin said.

"It's not?" Ruby began reaching for her door.

"There was someone else, assisting the White Fang, who was _not_ a Faunus. A soldier that was thought by the CIA, NSA, Interpol, and BEACON to be the stuff of legends."

Ruby felt her stomach do a half-flip. "I see. Who was he?"

"_She_," Ozpin said. "And her name is-"

That's when the door exploded.

It took Ruby a moment to realize what had happened as she saw part of her door vanish from existence. It took her another moment to realize blood was all over her, and it was not her own.

The moment she felt Ozpin's body jerk and fall away from her despite her grip, she knew what had happened.

She leapt away as the door exploded further, from what sounded like a shotgun blast. She barely avoided getting scraped by the shell burst, but Ozpin's already-dead body was hit again and blown backwards. Ella Woods screamed in surprise and dove behind one of Ruby's shelves in a desperate attempt to find cover.

Ruby looked up to find the enemy, and saw a woman with blonde, short hair, with a metallic left arm and her eyes and mouth hidden behind goggles and a face mask. Without any way to discern the facial features, or even hear the woman's voice, it was like staring into a machine. Or perhaps a demon.

There was no sign of a shotgun or any sort of weapon on the woman. In face, the woman showed no inclination to continue fighting. One moment, she was standing there, in the doorway, impassively, and the next, she was gone.

Ruby looked at Ozpin's body, and then at the doorway. There was no saving Ozpin now. She felt a hot anger threaten to overcome her as Ozpin's death began to register, but she forced it down. She had already lost someone today. Now she had lost the Director too.

_I won't let her get away._

She grabbed Argentum Rose and extended it to its full length. "I'm going after her! Stay here, Madam Secretary!"

Ruby took off at a run then, making it to her entrance just in time to see the woman make it all the way down the stairs and head towards the exit.

_Oh no you don't!_

Ruby made a mad dash and _leaped_ down the whole flight of stairs, bending her knees just in time to make a hard, if stable, landing. Her whole body shook from the fall for a split second, but she caught herself and immediately ran towards the door.

She was not going to get away. Ruby had already lost the man she had loved earlier today. Now she had lost her commander.

There was nothing she could have done to save James. But she could do something about Ozpin's death. She was going to make this woman _pay_.

She made it outside to see the woman attempting to flee across the dark street. Ruby immediately pursued, taking advantage of the traffic having stopped due to the woman carelessly charging through the road. The woman barely made it down an alleyway before Ruby caught up to her and Ruby attempted a quick slash meant to maim the woman at the legs.

The woman leaped away from the blow, and repositioned herself to face Ruby. Still no sign of emotion, not even a hint of frustration, that Ruby had caught her.

It was eerie. Like she really _was_ facing off against a machine.

Ruby thought about saying something. Like 'Who are you'? But no words seemed to want to come from her mouth.

Nothing really needed to be said. Instead of wasting her breath, she would get to work, and avenge Ozpin's death right here and now.

And then would cry with the rest of BEACON at the loss of their commander.

Ruby charged, and the woman backed away, making Ruby miss. The next swipe was blocked by the metal arm, and Ruby was surprised to see that the arm didn't even have a dent from the blow.

Seamlessly, Ruby switched Argentum Rose to its gun mode and attempted to blow the woman away, but the woman sidestepped the attempt to shoot her and charged in.

Ruby switched Argentum Rose back to scythe form and blocked the punch, but now found herself on the defensive. The woman was _fast_. The punches and kicks were flying with a speed that Ruby had not seen out of anyone other than maybe Lie Ren. It took all over her effort just to block her.

And the metal arm was striking the quickest and most powerfully of all.

Ruby, in desperation, kicked the woman in the stomach, knocking her back a couple of feet.

_Now I have you!_

With the woman off-balance, Ruby had a kill strike. She took a step forward and made a quick, horizontal slash, aimed at slicing the woman in half right at the waist.

But then the impossible happened.

The woman _caught_ Argentum Rose.

Not just caught it, but held the staff in a death grip.

And then her mechanical fist flexed.

_Crrrrrrraaaaaaaack_!

The staff _shattered_, leaving Ruby with a worthless half of a staff. Ruby's eyes widened as the debris of her broken, _impossibly_ destroyed weapon flew in front of her vision.

_Oh my God_.

And then the woman came charging in, and Ruby had no defense.

Ruby felt a vicious kick slam right into her gut and knock her clean out of the alley.

She bounced off the sidewalk and rolled until she came to rest at the curb, on the verge of falling into the street itself.

She could not breathe. The kick had taken all of the wind out of her. She struggled to her feet, despite the throbbing pain in the back of her head and the desperate wheezes that passed for her breathing. No matter how much pain she was in, or how little she could breathe, she could not let that woman . . .

She was gone.

The woman was gone, and so, Ruby now had nothing.

She had lost the man she loved, her commander, and now her weapon.

As the air finally returned to her lungs, she _screamed_ with frustration and punched the parkway tree next to her, making it _crack_ like the weapon she had just lost.

_I failed! Again! How could I let that happen?  
_  
No commander, no friends, no weapon.

She truly _was_ alone.

* * *

_Hospital, Hallway  
Washington, D.C._

Ruby sat alone in the hospital, Ozpin's blood still on her clothes, staring into space.

She had no idea what she was going to do.

All of her allies and friends had been left behind in New York. Her commander was going to the morgue. And now there was that woman, who all Ella Woods would reveal was that she was apparently the 'Summer Soldier', a apocryphal female warrior that had been wreaking havoc on special operations since the days of the Cold War. She was a phantom, and now she had come like a ghost in the night to steal Ozpin away from everyone.

Her weapon was gone. On top of everything else she had dealt with, it felt minor. It was just a weapon. But it felt like a broken promise from Weiss. Argentum Rose was supposed to be superior to Crescent Rose, unbreakable, didn't even need significant maintenance. And all it took was a hard grip and a _twist_ to shatter Argentum Rose into _pieces._

She could not shake off the paranoia without a weapon. She had a Colt .45 holstered at her side, and when she got weird looks from the staff she outed herself as _the_ Ruby Rose, Miss America, the out-of-time hero from World War II. All of a sudden, there was no issue with her carrying a loaded weapon in a hospital.

But even though she was no longer paranoid, she still did not feel _safe_. The Colt .45, as trusty of a standby as it was, still would not stop that woman, Ruby sensed. It was inadequate. Just like all of her efforts had been today.

After everything that had happened, she couldn't even muster the effort to move. She just felt _numb_. Like she couldn't feel anything at all. She had a sense that she was crying, but she couldn't feel the tears that had to be streaming down her cheeks.

She just had a feeling of having nothing left to give.

_I can't . . . I can't give up._

Finally, she felt her hands, as they clenched into fists.

_I can't. I have to try _something_. Anything._

Something resembling a plan rushed through her head. She was going to put off donating Crescent Rose to the Smithsonian for a while longer. The curators would not be thrilled about that, they were fearing that such a priceless relic of the war could be irreparably damaged, but she still needed it. There was no way the assassination of BEACON's Director was going to stand. There was a lot of things about Ozpin that she disagreed with, but Ozpin was not a bad man. He was a leader, and BEACON was adrift without him.

She needed Crescent Rose, and she needed Dust to make it a usable weapon. That was attainable enough at BEACON headquarters. After that, she was going to throw herself into researching this 'Summer Soldier' and killing her, before she could kill anyone else. If White Fang had her, then this wouldn't be the last time the 'Summer Soldier' would be sent to kill.

It was then, as she fidgeted with her pockets, that she felt something.

Plastic.

Ruby yanked it out of her pocket.

A flash drive.

She did not own a flash drive.

Immediately, Ruby stuffed her left hand back in her coat pocket as casually as she could.

_The Director snuck this into my pocket! But how?_

She remembered draping Ozpin over her shoulder. _He must have done it then!_

All right. Maybe she would have something to go on after all.

There was a library she frequented. No, wait, she couldn't go there. Obviously BEACON had a way of tracking flash drives. She was still somewhat of a neophyte on modern technology but she knew that much.

The only person she knew who could break BEACON's encryption and prevent tracking would be Weiss. She had to get back in touch with Weiss, in spite of how disappointed Ruby was with her. That was how she was going to get to the bottom of this.

_See? It's not hopeless. It's not hopeless yet. You can keep going. You always have enough to keep going_.

She looked up then, her usual look of determination reappearing in her eyes.

_I won't give up. Not until there is nothing left._

She got up then, and, hands in her pockets, she quietly left the hallway and walked towards the exit.

_Both the man I loved and my commander are going to be in graves. All of the people I trusted in the war are in graves. But you, 'Summer Soldier' or whatever you are . . . _

She walked out of the hospital, a furious purpose in her step.

_I will kill you and dig your grave myself_.

* * *

No matter what the continuity, it isn't RWBY without somebody being a dick to trees.

Also, keep in mind both franchises I've fused together here when you think about Ozpin.


	14. Weiss Schnee

**Chapter Fourteen: Weiss Schnee**

_Los Angeles, California  
Four Years Ago_

Weiss Schnee watched as Obadiah Stane, bloodied and wheezing, crawled out of the remains of . . . of this _perversion_ of her father's work. Her fists and teeth were both clenched as she struggled to contain her fury at the sight of this man, who had betrayed her and her father, and was ultimately responsible for her father's death and all of the pain she had suffered.

_You took my father's design . . . my design . . . and turned it into a monstrosity. How dare you._

Hot tears began to fall from her eyes as she allowed her helmet to retract, revealing her sweating face and messy white hair to Obadiah Stane. She walked over to him as he continued to crawl out on his belly, and watched as he fell out of the suit and landed on his back with a _thud_.

None of it was enough. The sickening _smack_ of his head hitting the asphalt, the grunts of pain, the fact that his ribs were clearly broken and preventing him from breathing properly . . .

It was not enough. None of the pain he was suffering felt quite enough.

Stane lifted his neck to look at Weiss. "Well . . . what are you going to do now, little girl?"

"My father's company is now mine . . . and that murder machine you built will be destroyed, as will any blueprints or files you made," Weiss said softly.

Stane laughed at that, followed by a bloody cough. Every fiber of Weiss' being struggled to keep from lashing out at fury at the man who dared to laugh at her.

"Somehow . . . I don't think that's all that you will be doing."

"No. It's not."

Weiss walked over to Obadiah Stane and picked him up by the shirt of his collar, holding the bald man directly in front of her. In her suit, she had far more than the strength necessary to do this.

Looking at him, she could only see her father's face flashing in front of her vision. He was _dead_ because of this man. The only true family she had ever known, and he was _dead_, betrayed by Obadiah Stane, who was like a brother to him, and to Weiss, like an uncle. They had both trusted him implicitly, and now . . . now . . .

Weiss had wondered, while imprisoned in the Afghanistan caves, why she had been made to suffer. Her whole childhood was a life of exclusion, of being treated like a servant more than a member of the prosperous Schnee family, and she didn't know why. When she finally had DNA testing done, she discovered the truth . . . she was the product of a one-night-stand. She was illegitimate, a bastard child. She would never be a true Schnee.

She had abandoned the Schnees shortly thereafter, coming all the way from Germany to the United States to find her biological father. And then, after finding him, after finally finding some happiness being with him and learning the art of building, the art of technology from him . . . were the caves.

Her suffering at the hands of the weapons her father built, a shard of shrapnel buried in her chest. Only the core by her heart would prevent her death, powered by Dust, a new substance beginning to ooze into the world like some primordial invader. Her father, the only person she had brought herself to truly love, died in the caves, died so she could live . . . died so his company would belong to her.

He died, and she suffered . . . because of Obadiah Stane.

Her father died before he could rectify the mistakes he realized he had made while desperately trying to save his daughter.

She would rectify them. All of them.

Her eyes blazed as she stared at Obadiah Stane. "I'm going to kill you, Obadiah Stane."

He smiled ruefully. "A final solution, huh? How German of you."

There was no logical thinking left in Weiss then. With a vicious scream, she _slammed _Obadiah into the ground, before picking him back up, to see him dazed, twitching, bloodied all over the back of his bald, cueball head.

He was still alive. She had hesitated, at the very last second, before she would have slammed him into the ground full force. That would have killed him instantly.

It was the realization she was not done talking to him yet. There was a few more things she needed to say before she ended it all.

"I will . . . I will _not_ . . . let you hurt the world any more than you already have. I have seen all of the illegal weapons sales you've made. You are responsible for millions suffering, dying . . . and thirsting for revenge against the world. And you dare to make my company _profit_ while the world burns. You betrayed my father, you betrayed me . . . to _turn a profit_."

Obadiah slowed some alertness then, staring at Weiss with a look of rage in his eyes. He was still defiant. There was no convincing him that he had done wrong.

"I will run a more ethical company, and I will turn a greater profit than you will ever dream of. I will rescue the world from the likes of you."

"By murdering me . . . how ethical."

"No one is without sin, Obadiah Stane. Hell, I'm the _product_ of sin. I am the child of a one-night-stand. I suppose I should consider it a miracle my mother decided to pass me off as her husband's child rather than abort me. Then I wouldn't be here . . . and you would've gotten away with everything."

She turned Obadiah Stane towards the remains of his monstrous variation of her battle suit.

There was no way for him to feel the pain she had felt, or the pain her father felt. Not enough time, and she didn't have the tools. All she could give him was a mere _taste_.

"Funny how life works sometimes."

"You . . . you shouldn't even exist . . . " Obadiah growled.

"I could say the same to you. But I'll say this instead."

She lined him up. "You live by the sword, you die by the sword. Karma's a bitch, Obadiah Stane. And so am I."

She let go of Obadiah then.

"Goodbye."

She blasted him in the chest, sending him flying into his hulking battle suit. She fired again, and the suit exploded from the force of the beam shot, leaving no room for ambiguity.

Weiss stared at the flames and smoldering wreckage for a long time.

_I did it, Dad. I did it. I avenged you._

She stared at her armor-coated hands. Her battle suit had been the deciding factor . . . it was the only reason why she had escaped, and why she still lived.

Her tears felt onto the plating.

_No one else will die like you did. No one else will suffer like I did. I swear it. _

She turned away from the wreckage, her eyes looking out into the Los Angles cityscape.

_I will be their rescuer._

* * *

_Weiss Schnee's Private Jet  
Somewhere over the United States  
Present Day_

Guarding Weiss Schnee held a lot of perks. Getting to wear a comfortable, stylish business suit was one of them. A bonus was that Weiss was so loaded that if one got ruined, it was easily replaced.

Though in the case of Pyrrha Nikos, she didn't merely ruin business suits. More like completely obliterated them. That came with the territory of becoming a 'enormous green rage-monster', as Weiss once called her behind her imitation of her father's personality.

Of course, Weiss found having a bodyguard who could become completely indestructible priceless. So that was why Pyrrha Nikos was here, and why she went wherever Weiss went. She was there to be a shield when the Rescue battle armor could not, and she was to quickly and efficient neutralize any threat to Weiss' life. Which was something Pyrrha was more than capable of, whether as herself, or . . . as her other self.

She needed to find a moniker she liked and quick. The press was increasingly calling her 'She-Hulk'. If she didn't come up with something better soon, she was going to be stuck with that moniker. Forever.

_Anything but that_, she thought as she finished scrolling through various articles on her tablet.

Well, okay. That wasn't quite fair. She had things pretty bad before two years ago. She had hit rock bottom when she was possessed by Loki, but had come out of the experience with mastery of several languages, which made her useful as a translator for Weiss as well. Most importantly was the mastery of English. Now she knew that saying "Pyrrha smash!" was not the right thing to say to English speakers.

In hindsight, she should've known that anyway, considering how people reacted to her yelling that. But the past was the past.

"Pyrrha, darling! What'cha up to?"

Weiss surprise-hugging her from behind was the present.

"Weiss," Pyrrha said, barely containing how surprised she was at the heat of the moment, "I know the real you. You don't need to act like your father around me."

"But it's so much _fun_!" Weiss laughed from behind Pyrrha. Pyrrha looked down, and saw Weiss' hands firmly gripping her waist.

_Dammit Weiss. I don't swing that way._

Well, truthfully, Weiss swung _every_ way. The only person who seemed to be able to comprehend Weiss' sexual preference was Nora, and that probably said more about Nora than it did about Weiss.

"Weiss. Please. I'm not in the mood to humor you right now," Pyrrha said.

Weiss let go and walked in front of Pyrrha, hands on her hips. "It's only a matter of time before you give in."

_Someone or something please force Weiss to go back to dead serious so I don't have to deal with this._

Just as she thought that, Weiss' phone rang . . . or, rather, _erupted_. Erupted into the distorted metal and hard rock that had been tormenting Pyrrha ever since she took this gig.

_Like father, like daughter._ Except Weiss' favorite group, Godsmack, was far newer than AC/DC was. It didn't matter to Pyrrha. It was all too loud for her.

Weiss nevertheless answered the cell phone, which mercifully ended the music. "Hey, Ruby! Care to explain why you bailed from your own birthday party without telling us?"

It took only a couple of seconds for Weiss' facial expression to change completely, and her voice changed completely as well. "Wait, _what_ happened?"

"Speakerphone, Weiss," Pyrrha said. Judging by the way Weiss had immediately dropped the goofier exterior, it was something bad. And if it involved Ruby, Pyrrha needed to hear this too. They had a comradery with the young woman.

Without saying a word, Weiss turned on the speakerphone, and Pyrrha could hear Ruby Rose.

_"The director of BEACON is dead. Argentum Rose is broken. I'm on my way to BEACON headquarters to grab some Dust so I can make Crescent Rose work again._"

Pyrrha's eyes widened. _Director Ozpin is dead? How?_

"How could someone kill the Director?" Weiss asked. "He's the most guarded man on Earth! Not even Pyrrha – no offense – could get to him!"

_"__Well, someone did, this 'Summer Soldier' . . . person, machine. Whatever. Summer Soldier also broke Argentum Rose when I fought her. She grabbed it and broke it into pieces." _

"Argentum Rose is supposed to be unbreakable," Weiss said softly.

"_Well, clearly it isn't. Anyway, any chance you can come out to D.C., or do I need to come to you? I need you to take a look at something."_

"I'm almost at Los Angeles. Let me land, refresh myself, and get some of my stuff ready. I'll come to you."

"_All right, make it fast. I'm not going to let what happened to Director Ozpin stand, and time is of the essence."_

"Don't worry. I'll be in D.C. before the day is out."

_It's like they're speaking in code. I don't know what's going through either of their heads, but Weiss and Ruby seem to understand each other implicitly._

Weiss looked at her phone curiously then, before she put it back to her ear. "Also, someone is trying to break through the encryption in the line. It's serious, not a typical half-assed attempt either. Whatever's going on, you're buried deep in it. Careful who you talk to, and don't try to call anyone else about this other than me. I'm the only one who'll keep her line from getting tapped."

Pyrrha froze for a second. No wonder they were speaking vaguely. They weren't sure whether the line was being tapped or not. Whatever was going on, this went beyond what they had to deal with before.

"_I don't doubt it_," Ruby said. "_I'm be leaving for BEACON H.Q. to pick up my supplies now. I'll get back in touch with you in a couple of hours."_

"Sounds good. I should be ready to leave by then," Weiss said. "Talk to you later."

"_Copy that._"

Ruby hung up then, Weiss turned off her phone, a faint chuckle emitting from her mouth. "So military. I don't think I'll ever get Ruby to break that rigidness."

"Can you explain to me what's going on?" Pyrrha asked.

"Clearly Ruby has information pertaining to this 'Summer Soldier' who killed Director Ozpin, and she's afraid to try to use it or open it without me there. It obviously involves encryption and the probability of being traced. Clearly Ruby doesn't trust anyone at the moment either."

"She wasn't happy with you over Penny though," Pyrrha replied.

"Not being happy with me is different from not trusting me," Weiss said. She turned to look at Pyrrha. "We're more alike than most people think. We have the same eyes, Pyrrha. We both had to murder far too much as children."

Weiss truly did look different than she did just moments ago. She seemed much, much older despite her youthful appearance, like she was saddled with an old soul.

_The real Weiss is so thoughtful. Why does she feel the need to throw on her mask_?

Weiss turned towards the cockpit. "We'll be landing in a few minutes, sit down and buckle your seatbelts. This will be the last smooth flight for a while, I'm afraid."

Weiss vanished then, presumably to tell her pilot to not get too far from the airport. Pyrrha sat down, and sighed.

_And most likely, I'll have to do what I was hired to do. Be a shield and break things. _

She stared at her gloved hand, and flexed it a couple of times. She practiced allowing the adrenaline flow through her for a moment, like she was placing her finger on the trigger, and she immediately felt a surge of _power_ burst within her.

She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down then. The yoga breath did sooth her, and she felt the tenseness in her body ebb away. She was still in control, and moreover, she actually felt_ready _to start breaking things.

_I don't know who this 'Summer Soldier' is, but I'll break her like she did to Argentum Rose. I'll end it all in one blow._

Pyrrha smiled knowingly.

_That is what _I_do best._

_10880 Malibu Point_

_Los Angeles, California_

Weiss moved swiftly through her mansion, Jarvis and Pyrrha marching beside her. Penny followed dutifully, but it was clear she didn't know what to do.

"I'm going to get my Mark V armor. Mark XLII's tests failed dramatically, so Mark V is the only operational portable armor I have available. I need Mark VII and XX prepared as well. Something tells me that Ruby might need sniper assistance in addition to the standard fare."

"What happened with Mark XLII?" Pyrrha asked.

"Oh, it was great!" Penny laughed from behind them. "That one piece slammed Weiss right in the-"

"Don't say it, Penny."

"But Weiss-"

"They don't need to know the finer details."

Weiss feared that Penny had said enough for the others to figure out what happened. By the rather silly grins Pyrrha and Jarvis were trying and failing to hide, they had.

_Damn it. If word of this gets out I'll never live it down._

Jarvis sighed after a moment. "I will have those two suits shipped right to the plane, Ms. Schnee. Or would you prefer them all?"

"Very funny, Jarvis. If it weren't for your rather charming British accent I'd have fired you long ago."

"I have a good awareness of my job security," Jarvis replied. Weiss could only roll her eyes at that mark.

"Pyrrha," Weiss said, turning her attention to her bodyguard. "What I need you to do is . . ."

That's when she heard it. A distant buzzing sound.

"What is it you want me to do?" Pyrrha asked, clearly confused.

"Do you hear that?" Weiss asked.

"Hear what?" It took Pyrrha a moment, but then she heard it too.

"Helicopters," Pyrrha said. "Military by the sound of them."

"Right." _What the hell are military-grade choppers doing out here, though?_

Before Weiss could run towards the balcony, Pyrrha grabbed Weiss and moved ahead of her. "Let me. I'm the one who can become impenetrable, remember?"

Weiss sighed. Pyrrha did have a point. "Go ahead."

Pyrrha ran on ahead and made it to the balcony, and then Pyrrha froze. "Um . . . Weiss . . . we have trouble."

Weiss didn't even need to see what was coming. If it was enough to faze Pyrrha, it was bad. "PEPPER, talk to me! What are we dealing with here?"

"_Eighteen Apache assault helicopters, Ms. Schnee." _

"Eighteen of them?" Tall order. Pyrrha could only do so much from the ground, and she was the only one here who could fight in aerial combat. "Why isn't the National Guard getting on this? They should've seen this coming!"

"_Their codes and callsigns are coming up as National Guard, Ms. Schnee." _

Weiss froze at the implications hit her. _Oh my God._

Whatever had killed Director Ozpin, whatever had attempted to assassinate the Secretary of Defense . . . this was a wider net than either she or Ruby had thought. And all it had taken was a mere_attempt_ to hack into Weiss' communications to trigger an attack on her own home. They didn't need to hear the phone call, they just needed to know it was made, in order to arrange an assault of this magnitude!

This was nothing less than an systematic attack against the people who had led the fight to save New York two years ago. And these were rogue agents, operating inside the United States military, who had been activated and were going to begin their work.

Upon realizing the truth, Weiss reacted. "Change of plans! Pyrrha, stay with me! Jarvis, prep the escape car! Get Mark VII and Mark XX in there only if you can! Penny, grab me the Mark V! It's that armor that can fold into a suitcase, remember?"

"I'll do my best," Jarvis said, before he ran down the stairs towards Weiss' underground garage.

"I know what it looks like! I'll be right back!" Penny shouted, before she ran towards the upstairs.

"How close are they, PEPPER?" Weiss barked as she turned to face the balcony.

"_We will be within missile lock in thirty seconds_."

"Send me Mark XLII. I don't care that it's not ready. It's the only suit I can try to put on in time to defend the place."

"_So you can entertain me while we're all destroyed. Sounds like a plan, Ms. Schnee." _

"Entertaining you isn't the intention here. It's our uninvited guests that deserve the entertainment, PEPPER."

Weiss began walking towards the balcony.

_This is my house. _

She stretched out her arms, and waited for the pieces of the Mark XLII to begin flying to her.

_Get out._

* * *

Should probably cue up "Attack on 10880 Malibu Point" for the next chapter.

The shades of Iron Man 3 are probably pretty obvious now.

I am writing two of the RWBY crew as bisexual, and one as homosexual. The rest will be portrayed as straight. Obviously Weiss is one of the bisexual ones, though she prefers men.


	15. The Hero of the Day

**Chapter Fifteen: The Hero of the Day**

_10880 Malibu Point  
Los Angeles, California_

Weiss waited.

And then she waited.

And then she waited some more.

Sweat dripped down her face as it began to hit her that this wasn't going to plan. "Um, PEPPER? Can you at least give me a hand, if nothing else, from the Mark 42?"

"_The pieces are flying from the basement. This takes time, especially with coordinating so many pieces at once, Ms. Schnee. I assume you do not want them damaged._"

"Well, how long is it going to take?"

"_A minute, give or take ten seconds, Ms. Schnee."_

It took Weiss a second to process that. _Wait, didn't PEPPER also say that the helicopters will be in range in . . ._

Her eyes widened.

_Well, crap._

"Weiss!" Pyrrha came charging towards Weiss and seized her, and half-dragged, half-carried Weiss away. Right after they cleared, explosions shook the whole room, obliterating much of it in a gyrating inferno.

They dove behind an office desk in another one of the rooms. Machine-gun bullets joined the cacophony of the explosions, as the whole cliffside of 10880 Malibu Point ceased to exist. Weiss could tell, just by listening, the helicopters had wiped out the most beautiful part of her home.

"Damn it!" Weiss punched the wall. "They better not have killed Jarvis!"

"_He is alive, but I am afraid the structural integrity did not hold. He is cut off._"

"Of course," Weiss growled.

"You think this is a code green?" Pyrrha asked.

Weiss looked at Pyrrha. "I'm amazed you haven't already switched, considering how you muscled me over here."

"I am already quite strong, just not superhumanly so." Pyrrha took a deep breath. "Are you sure? I don't want to do this without your explicit-"

"Pyrrha, do what I pay you to do. Smash _everything_," Weiss snapped.

"Right. Right." Suddenly, Pyrrha's eyes glowed green, and Weiss knew what was going to happen from there.

Pyrrha fell to her hands and knees, crying out as her form rapidly grew right out of her clothes, shredding them into insignificant fragments that fell to the floor. Her skin changed into a forest green, and when she next looked to Weiss, looking up with those glowing green eyes, she had completely transformed.

Pyrrha got to her feet, and Weiss was uncomfortably reminded that Pyrrha now stood a foot taller than she once was. Every aspect of her form was a muscle waiting to lash out, containing a raw strength that was impossible without Dust.

_I forgot how scary Pyrrha is when she's like this, even when she's smiling like she normally does._

Weiss shook off her momentary fears. Pyrrha was in control. She was the bodyguard, after all. Weiss has even designed the leotard that Pyrrha was wearing now, and it was _expensive_ to produce something that would not tear apart when Pyrrha switched forms. The ultimate point, however, was that Weiss needed to trust Pyrrha if this arrangement was going to work, and that meant acting like nothing was wrong when Pyrrha switched forms.

"Pyrrha," Weiss said, pointing her thumb behind her. "Smash."

"Understood, Weiss," Pyrrha's newly smoky voice replied. And all of a sudden, she was gone, out of the room, charging as fast as she could.

Weiss sighed as she forced herself to shake off the sight of witnessing the transformation. It was a rush just to _witness_. Weiss could barely understand just what it was like to _experience_ it. It was a small blessing, she supposed, that she would never truly know.

She stood by the opened doorway. "PEPPER, I need that armor!"

Suddenly, the left glove appeared and Weiss instinctively stuck out her left hand in response, and she felt the glove wrap itself around her hand.

_Well, this is a start_.

Weiss took off behind cover then, to see the helicopters perched right outside her home. She immediately fired at what looked like a Black Hawk trying to land on what remained of her balcony, but she blasted it before the landing could begin, sending it crashing out of sight in two pieces. Weiss fired at the two Apache escorts then, as they turned their attention to her too late. Both of them just outright exploded, leaving nothing but fiery pieces and parts falling to the ocean below.

To her right, she could see Pyrrha doing significant damage just by leaping from helicopter to helicopter, disabling them one by one. Only Pyrrha, only the She-Hulk, would be so fearless as to leap from helicopter to helicopter without fear of being sliced open. Weiss admired that part about Pyrrha, about her having absolutely zero fear whatsoever. It was something transcendent that Weiss herself just did not have.

Suddenly, Pyrrha leapt from another helicopter she had sent spiraling out of control, returning with a missile pod. She ripped a missile from the pod and chucked it at a helicopter trying to stare Weiss down. The helicopter exploded, leaving a fiery blossom in the air for a few moments.

"Weiss!" Pyrrha shouted. "Stay back!"

The leg pieces of the Mark XLII made it to her then. Weiss kicked off her dress heels just in time for the pieces to form-fit to her, going all the way up to her knees.

"I'm not letting you defend my house for me, Pyrrha. Not by yourself."

Weiss engaged the repulsors and hovered in the air, and she aimed her left hand at a helicopter about to begin a strafing run.

"Especially not against these bastards."

Weiss fired, and she put a giant hole in the side of the Apache, sending it into an uncontrollable crash pattern as it toppled out of sight.

More pieces flew to Weiss then, covering her chest and her back. Weiss still wanted the helmet, but at least she was more covered now. Her right hand receiving its glove just made her feel even more confident.

_I can do this. I'm not fully armored, but I can do this._

More of them coming for another strafing run, or perhaps to use missiles at point-blank range.

_I can rescue myself._

She stretched both hands in front of herself, keeping herself in a steady hover. She was ready to get blasting off in either direction, but she knew she was fighting a defensive battle, against an enemy who knew what they were up against.

This was not going to be easy.

The helmet made it to Weiss then, sans the face mask. _Almost there_.

With a yell, Pyrrha took off, charging right towards the helicopter, about to begin another aerial rampage against these mysterious foes. But that's when things started getting much worse.

Suddenly, a pulsating wave blasted out from the closest Apache, knocking Pyrrha out of control and sending her crashing to the floor.

And, much to Weiss' horror, the impossible happened.

Pyrrha's muscles and green skin faded as she regressed into the ordinary human being she had been right before the battle.

"Pyrrha!" Weiss fired with both of her hands then, making the helicopters panic and scatter. She was able to clip one in the tail rotor with her firing spree, but that wasn't good enough.

"W-Weiss." Weiss grabbed Pyrrha, who looked dazed and sick. "Weiss, that was . . . they shot me with something . . ."

"I know. They turned you back to normal."

Weiss jerked a couple of times as the shoulder parts managed to connect with her, followed by the thighs. Other than the face mask she was fully armored by the Mark XLII now.

"How many helicopters left?" Weiss yelled.

"_Eight. However, it's about to get worse. It seems some F-35s are inbound to our location, and they are likely equipped with air-to-ground missiles._"

Weiss gritted her teeth. There was no chance of winning this battle now. The only chance she had at beating these bastards was with Pyrrha ripping them a new one while Weiss offered support and backup. With Pyrrha out of commission, Weiss was the only one left who could fight, and she could not finish off both the helicopters and F-35s, not without abandoning her home, and Penny, Jarvis, and Pyrrha, for that matter.

Not to mention that she had never tried dogfighting a jet airplane before, and she honestly doubted she'd be able to do it for long.

Another helicopter got within her range and she blasted it with her right hand as she used the other to pick Pyrrha up. She hovered backwards, deeper into the remains of her home, watching for more movement. The sense of feeling besieged was gripping her in full now, and she felt trapped, like a rat in a cage, with cat paws trying to reach inside.

She backed Pyrrha up to the middle of the house, ducking out of the hallway and into a restroom. Pyrrha was exhausted, drained, like it was taking every fiber of being just to stand. She collapsed against the wall of the restroom, and stared at Weiss with what looked like fear. "I . . . I can't turn back. They took it away, Weiss. They took it away!"

"I doubt that," Weiss said. "Most likely they suppressed that particular transformation. Nothing I haven't done when I've tried to cure you. I've always been able to suppress a flareup but it's never more than a couple of days."

Suddenly the face mask, at long last, came flying Weiss' way and she snatched it out of thin air, hooking it on the rest of her helmet.

"PEPPER, how soon before the F-35s show up and destroy my house?"

"_Estimated time of arrival three minutes_."

"Tell Jarvis if he can get out, he should leave immediately. There's a way out through my underground garage, and I don't care which car he takes with him."

"_I have already informed him of the dire straits and he is taking action to get out of the area. However, we also have soldiers who have landed on your lawn, Weiss, and they are in the process of breaching your front door. You will need to clear them out if you want a clear shot at escaping." _

"Of course." Weiss took a step outside the restroom. "Get me Myrtenaster."

"_I have already sent it your way, Weiss."_

"And tell Penny to come to Pyrrha's location and get her out of Dodge."

"How?" Pyrrha asked, her green eyes wide with shock.

"Penny has rocket propulsion in her shoes. Remember, android," Weiss replied. "She's strong enough to carry you _and_ fly."

"Oh great," Pyrrha said, a shaky smile appearing on her face.

Myrtenaster appeared then, hovering in front of her for a split second, before Weiss snatched it out of the air, gripping it in her right hand.

Tell Penny to take off the moment the assault team is neutralized. I'll provide cover and support."

"_I will do so, Ms. Schnee." _

"Good. Now let me know when my imminent death is arriving. I'm going to go kick some ass."

"_Your father would be proud._"

Weiss smiled underneath the mask. "Damn straight."

Weiss charged around the corner, and it didn't take very long before she immediately saw the small army of soldiers charging through her front door, aiming to head for the stairs where she was.

"Only a platoon of you? You imbeciles underestimate me!"

Weiss fired several shots into the group, killing those she hit instantly and scattering the survivors. Immediately upon seeing them dive behind cover, she activated Myrtenaster's power and leapt from the balcony down to the first floor.

Several massive turquoise beams blasted from the seal she formed behind her. She had made a particular type of blue-colored Dust that was engineered to home in on targets behind cover. After she used this, this skirmish would be over.

Six, seven, perhaps even _eight _of the shots fired from the seal, and they allow immediately found targets, causing explosions as they found the unsuspecting soldiers. The screams of the dying and terrified reminded her of escaping the Afghanistan caves, the Ten Rings terrorists had made the same type of screams and wails upon being attacked.

She had no sympathy for the terrorists who had imprisoned her then. She would have no sympathy now. Once you tried to kill Weiss Schnee, you got what you deserved.

Two soldiers got behind cover, armed with grenade launchers, but Weiss blasted them both as she marched towards the hallway. She primed herself, and charged through, using her propulsion systems to navigate here between what survivors remained, slashing them with Myrtenaster. She used her motion tracker to calculate an ideal attack pattern in her head to get from target to target, and got to work.

Blood quickly stained her white armor as she cut through her enemies, and she ignored it all, as well as the smell. These soldiers were just more in a long line of lives she had been forced to take. The smell was something she could almost ignore now, like she was inured to it. Same with the faint impacts of the bullets striking her

This was the part of her she dared not let Ruby Rose, or any of the friends she had made in the wake of New York City, see. She'd much rather have them see her mask, although Ruby had eventually seen through it because she recognized the pain and loss in Weiss' eyes. Weiss still felt the feelings of friendship, of love, of empathy, but only for her friends, or for anyone who needed rescuing.

When she was killing an enemy, she felt _nothing_.

She was only a void, dashing from room to room, quickly ripping out the life of the next foe, before charging into the next area and repeating the process.

When it was all over, she was at her front door, gasping for air, like she had forgotten to breathe during the whole battle. "PEPPER. Where's Penny?"

"_She is still on the second floor, waiting for your signal_."

_How dutiful of her._ "Tell Penny to shoot out right through the front door."

"_I would not recommend that course of action, Ms. Schnee."_

"Why not?"

She looked through the front door, and suddenly saw what looked like a small army of soldiers waiting for her.

"Never mind, don't answer that, PEPPER."

Weiss activated her thrusters and blasted back into the house as what seemed to be enough firepower to take out a city shot up, and then exploded, her front door.

"Change of plans! I'm taking Penny and Pyrrha and shooting them through the ceiling!"

"_I don't see this ending well, Ms. Schnee._"

"I don't see any other options!"

"_You could surrender_."

"You really think that they'd accept my surrender at this point?"

"_I was following my sarcasm protocol, Ms. Schnee." _

"This is a really bad time to be following it!"

"_Duly noted."_

Weiss made it back to the second floor then, and saw Penny and Pyrrha both huddled together in a corner. Pyrrha still looked disoriented and shaken.

Penny stared at Weiss in horror. "Is that . . . _blood_ all over your armor?"

"It is, and what's important is that it isn't mine. Do you have the suitcase?"

"Y-Yes."

Weiss breathed a sigh of relief. "Good! I'm going to take you both through the ceiling now. Hang on tight!"

"Wait, what?" Pyrrha cried, but that was when Weiss grabbed them both and them turned her thrusters on full power, shooting into the air.

"Damn it, Weiss!" Pyrrha screamed as they shot through the sky, as far away from the house as Weiss could get them. "You're insane! Completely insane!"

Weiss ignored Pyrrha. What mattered was that they were out of the area, and would be long gone before the F-35s could be deployed against her. That was a fight she would not be able to win.

She was currently heading north. If she was going to meet up with Ruby and the others, she needed to get eastbound. As it was, she was going too fast for Pyrrha. Penny was an android, she didn't need to breathe, but Pyrrha wasn't likely getting enough air at this speed. Weiss needed a place to land, figure out her options, and hopefully wait out whatever agent had been blasted into Pyrrha.

That's when it happened.

It was just a small hiccup, and it barely slowed her down, but she noticed, and her altitude had dipped just a little.

Weiss' heart raced. She knew what was about to happen.

"Penny, hold onto Pyrrha and follow me before . . ."

Suddenly her thrusters began to sputter.

_Shit_.

"Mark XLII is failing! Penny, grab Pyrrha _now_!"

"What's going on, Weiss?" Penny wailed as Weiss stuffed Pyrrha into Penny's hands, before Weiss completely lost control.

Weiss continued to try to force Mark XLII to work as she started plummeting towards the ground. She was able to get a few more sputters, but the suit just would not continue to work.

_Dammit Weiss! Control the fall! Control the fall or you will die!_

Finally, she was able to get Mark 42 to reactivate, and she flew for a few ephemeral seconds, before she lost power again. She was heading right for a mountain too, to add insult to considerable,_lethal_, injury.

_Come on! Switch on, damn you! Turn the hell on before- _

Tree. The giant, redwood kind.

Weiss clipped the very top of it and went spiraling end over end into the forest, screaming at the top of her lungs. She was able to get a few more fleeting fires from her propulsion systems until she crashed into the side of a cavern, burying herself in rock.

Darkness was upon her in an instant.

* * *

_Somewhere in California  
Present Day_

Weiss groaned as she finally came to. _I guess I'm still alive, or I wouldn't be feeling so much pain right now._

It took her a moment to realize she could not move.

_What is . . . _

She was buried up to her neck in debris, mostly rock. And without her suit powered on, she was not strong enough to dig herself out of it. In fact, the Mark XLII, what was left of it, was more of a hindrance than an assistance. Just additional weight further paralyzing her.

The mask and helmet fell off of Weiss unceremoniously as she shook her head. At least she could breathe somewhat now.

_I hope Penny or Pyrrha saw where I crashed, or I'm going to be stuck here for a really long time._

There was no guarantee that occurred. She could be trapped here for a while.

It took a moment, but then she heard more rocket propulsion systems, ones she recognized as belonging to Penny.

_She did see me crash! _

Weiss almost wanted to cry. _Penny, you're amazing! You're far beyond what I ever expected of you! Please, keep searching! You're almost there!_

Penny landed directly in front of Weiss then, and she set Pyrrha down next to her. Much to Weiss' frustration, their backs were turned to her. "I know she crashed somewhere around here, Pyrrha!"

"Yeah, but we didn't see exactly where. She could be anywhere . . . or _everywhere_."

"Ew, not funny!"

_Turn around, you idiots_, Weiss thought, her teeth clenching, her kind thoughts about Penny forgotten. All they needed was to turn around, and they could all go on with their lives, and try to get eastbound. Every second that was wasted here could potentially cost more lives. Not just in the United States either. The entire_world_, for all Weiss knew, could be at stake.

"Help . . . me . . ." Weiss forced herself to say.

"Did you hear that?" Penny asked. Both her and Pyrrha spun around then, and they were staring right at Weiss.

Weiss tried to smile, to at least comfort the two of them, so they knew she wasn't in lethal danger. "Help me . . . please . . ."

Both Penny and Pyrrha's eyes were wide with horror. Like they were staring at something out of a John Carpenter movie.

"W-What?" Weiss asked.

That's when Penny and Pyrrha both screamed and hugged each other.

"_AAAAAAAAAAAAAH! _It's Weiss' _severed head _and she's_talking!_"

Both of them had their eyes roll back into their heads, and they fell backwards with firm _thumps_. They were limp on the ground, motionless.

Weiss stared. They had fainted. Both of them.

Pyrrha was one thing; she was only human and had been through a lot. But Penny . . . the little robot girl shouldn't even have had a fainting protocol. The fact she had fainted _too_ was almost . . .

Well, that didn't matter now.

_And those two are my only partners. _

Weiss sighed in dismay and hung her head.

_I'm doomed._

* * *

We will be returning to Ruby with the next chapter. But Weiss still has a pretty significant role to play in things. However, she's got a long trip ahead of her and she only has the Mark V left. So things aren't exactly ideal for her either . . . and that's not counting the fact she's currently trapped. XD


End file.
